Yesterday, Today & Tomorrow: Tailspin
by SunRei
Summary: Sometimes the keys to tomorrow open the doors of the past... Companion fic to 'Full Circle' where we get to see the other side of the coin. Everything is back to normal. Or is it? Complete.
1. PROLOGUE

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**INTRO**

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Dear Reader, 

As we begin to embark on another journey together, I would like to take this time to offer some preparation instructions. First of all, note that there are many exit doors to the front and to the rear, so you are free to come and go as you please. (wink) It might be important to mention that this is a companion story to the other… not necessarily a 'sequel', per say. Consider Full Circle as one side of the coin. We are now looking at the other side.

That said, while many of the main ingredients are the same- many others, like pacing, style, and tempo- are not. For this to be an enjoyable experience for us all, you will need to have this in mind as we go forward. Also, as difficult as it might be, you will need to forget about Season 5. Unless there are specific allusions to events from the season, wipe it from your mind. And in doing so, I need you to go back to a point before the time you started to believe Lex Luthor had become evil incarnate.

It will be a challenge, but if you can do so, it will make the experience that much greater for all of us. As is the case when writing a story in a fandom, there are both blessings and curses. Blessed because we have established characters, and cursed because of the same. The strength of this story will be based on my ability to spin a tale true to the voice and personality of the characters, all while believably taking you in direction different from what you are familiar.

Thus, with that fair warning, I ask that you take a deep breath, clear your mind, and as always… enjoy the ride.

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**

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PROLOGUE**

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Lois marked the check boxes off with brisk strokes. She didn't know why you had to fill out these stupid medical history forms every single time you wanted to see a doctor for some drugs. Shaking her head as she slashed a line through the next box, she sighed. What…? Did they really think that she would have undergone major surgery since she was here last week for her allergy pills? 

And to make matters worse, after you filled out the sheet, a nurse would come through and ask you the same questions. Usually, Lois wouldn't even deal with doctors when she was sick; she would just suck it up and drown herself with over the counter meds, but this new strain of flu was kicking her rear… and those damn allergies just made it worse.

She read the next question on the form and scoffed, ready to cross it off as she had done all the others.

"Pregnant," she laughed to herself. "Not unless it's divine intervent…" The chuckle died in her throat as a foggy memory flashed in front of her mind's eye.

She had no idea what it was, but it was heated and included skin. Hers and someone else's.

"Crap," she muttered. "Crap!" She jumped from the hard plastic chair and walked to the receptionist's desk, tearing the sheet from the clipboard as she went.

"I'm sorry. I've got to go," she told the startled man, dropping the board onto the counter.

Without waiting for a response, she spun on her heel and dashed out of the front doors.

Once inside her car, she leaned her head against the steering wheel and closed her eyes.

"This cannot be happening," she groaned, trying to remember the exact moment she had first started to feel sick. As she thought about it, she realized what she had blamed on her allergies last week might have been the start.

Last Saturday morning, she had woken up with a splitting headache and vertigo. It had been oddly similar to the hangovers she no longer experienced since she no longer drank herself silly. From what she recalled, she had closed the Talon for Mrs. Kent the night before and had planned on stopping by the library on campus before heading back to the farm.

The library was open until 2 am during the week before finals, and she hadn't wanted to bother the sleeping Kent household by camping out at the kitchen table. And trying to study in the same room that she slept… well, that was just a bad idea. Not remembering the library the next morning, Lois had assumed that she must have felt like she was coming down with something and gone straight home instead.

Now that she thought about it closely though, she couldn't remember how she got home. Hell, she couldn't remember anything between leaving the Talon that night and hugging the toilet bowl the next morning. She was just lucky that everyone else had been out of the house doing morning chores when her homage to the porcelain throne had taken place. Lois hated being sick. It was embarrassing to be vulnerable.

Straightening, she looked at her reflection in the rearview mirror. "Lane, what have you done this time?"

Neither she nor her counterpart on the other side of the looking glass had an answer, but both knew that they needed to find out, fast. She needed an Emergency Pregnancy Test.

And she needed it yesterday.

Glancing back toward the Smallville Medical Center, she momentarily considered heading into the pharmacy to buy a test but nixed the idea when she recalled that the girl who worked the counter was a regular at the Talon. This was one of those times when living in a small town made privacy impossible to have.

On top of that, Shelby had developed a fascination with the garbage in her room. She could imagine how _that_ conversation would go. "Hey, Shelbs, what you got there?" she pantomimed, as she started the car and pulled out of the parking space. "Oh, don't worry about that, Mr. Kent. It's just a pregnancy test…" she answered, switching back to her own voice. "… And I am flipping out of my mind."

"Overreacting. It's just the flu, right?" She spied her reflection again. "Don't look at me like that. There's nothing to worry about. We're just covering all the angles… being thorough…"

Grasping the steering wheel tighter with both hands, she made a decision.

This called for a trip to the city.

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**

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TBC

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	2. ONE

_**A/N:**_ Just wanted to say once again, much gratitude goes out to Olia, my beta, who endured (and is still enduring) long waiting periods before getting updated. She sits through it so you don't have too. And, more thanks to ROT Productions (Ashley and Marcy) for their wonderful contributions to my campaign... erm, for the trailer (go Ash!) and the banner (go Marce!). Any mistakes that you find are mine- so point the grammar daggars at me! If you want to see the traliers, check out the media section of my homepage.

For you readers out there, I really appreciate you taking the time to go on this journey with me. You make this posting gig worth it. Without you and your comments, there would be no need for this humble writer. (smile)

Have fun! I know I did...

.:sonia:.

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**ONE **

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Lois fidgeted with her sunglasses and wondered if wearing them made her look suspicious… it was late December after all. Releasing a breath, she slid them to the top of her head, figuring that way it looked like she was wishfully thinking of summer, and not hiding something. Because she wasn't. 

The clerk at the store glanced inside the hand basket she had set on the counter in front of him.

Lois followed his gaze. "I'm doing a test…"

One of his eyebrows cocked in amusement as he lifted one of the many tests out of her basket for scanning.

"Not that kind of test… It's a project… testing accuracy."

The clerk continued to pull each of the 10 different brands of pregnancy tests from the basket. "You know that the FDA won't approve any of these without running clinical trials to ensure reliability, right?"

Lois's eyes narrowed. "Yes, I know that… but they can still be wrong. Which is what I'm going to show… As soon as you let me pay, that is."

She arched an eyebrow in challenge, causing the clerk to shrug.

"I'm just saying…" he started as he continued to scan her items. "You could get better results from a clinic. Cheaper, too."

Lois opened her mouth to reply but thought better of it and resorted to a smile. He was baiting her. "But that wouldn't really help my project, would it?"

The clerk shrugged and reached for the phone next to the cash register. "I'm going to need a price check on the Clear Blue Easy Digital Pregnancy Test, single pack."

Lois's left eye twitched as she noticed that the purchase had already been totaled. He didn't need a price check after all. "You're an ass."

She pulled a hundred dollar bill and a twenty dollar bill out of her purse and handed them to him. Once she had her change, Lois reached for the bag and headed out of the store.

Opening her car door, she wondered if buying the tests had been the easy part.

* * *

Lois took another swig from the bottle as she waited for her watch to go off. The tests said that it was best to use early morning urine, but well, she didn't really have an early morning. She had right now. 

The sound of her watch alarm going off caused her to jump even though she had been expecting it. It was time. She took another swig.

Test one: two pink lines.

"It's more mauve than pink," Lois muttered. She peered down at the black globe sitting in her lap. "Please try again. Figures. I don't see what's so magic about an 8-ball full of water."

With a sigh she pulled another box off of the counter. Test two: a plus sign. Test three: a negative. Test four: a red smudge.

Lois lifted the bottle to take another swig and realized that it was empty. She had filled and emptied her gallon-size water bottle three times trying to build up enough urine to facilitate this much testing.

She sorted through the rest of the tests. The results were inconclusive.

"Damn." Lois rose from where she was sitting on the closed toilet seat lid and began sweeping the tests back into the plastic bag. She was going to have to go to a clinic after all. The stupid clerk from the store had been right.

She took one last look around the bathroom to make sure she had cleared all of the evidence, and then went out into the darkened coffee shop. She had to finish locking up so she could head home.

* * *

"Hey, Cuz!" 

Chloe looked up from her textbook and blinked in confusion at her cousin. "Lois? What are you doing here?"

Lois flipped onto the couch across from her and frowned at the remnants of Chloe's iced cappuccino. "It's good to see you too," she scoffed, leaning into the pillows and smirking.

"Well, no, it _is_ good to see you… I love it when you come to visit, but it's not a weekend… and it's like…" She glanced at the display on her cell phone. "Ten o'clock at night. Is something wrong?"

"No, something's right! I came to give you the good news." Lois laughed at Chloe's expression and snatched a chunk of her muffin from the plate on the table, popping the small piece into her mouth. "I'm moving!"

Chloe narrowed her eyes, at a complete loss for what her cousin was saying, her mind numb from having spent the last three hours trying to understand electrons and valence shields. "What?"

"I'm coming to Met U. Admissions says I'm in! Watch out Metropolis, the Cousins are back!"

Chloe couldn't help but laugh at Lois's excitement. "When did all this happen? Why didn't you tell me before? I thought you weren't going to transfer until next fall."

Lois shrugged and dusted crumbs from her lap. "Just felt that it was time to step up and act like I knew what I was doing with myself. Since Winter Semester just started, the advisors think that the sooner I start classes up here, the better. It also helps that Central Kansas is in the same system. All my credits transfer without a problem."

"The sooner the better," Chloe repeated. "Like how soon?"

"Hmmm… Monday."

"Mond… Are you kidding me?"

Lois grinned. "Nope. Monday it is. And I got a job at the Morgue, so everything is set."

"The Morgue!" Chloe took on a horrified expression.

"Not the _morgue_, Morgue. The Daily Planet Archives… what they call the Morgue."

Chloe silently hoped that her own entrance to the Daily Planet would be above ground. She was planning to apply for an internship in a couple of months. "Oh. But… what about housing?"

"Covered." Lois had a glint in her eye. "I just got done finalizing it actually, which is why I came to find you. You owe me big. Real big."

Chloe looked at her warily.

"I'm springing you out of the dorms, Freshie."

"But..."

Lois arched an eyebrow and smirked. "Go on, get excited… You know you want to."

Chloe began to feel a twinge of Lois's excitement. After all, it was what they had been planning since school started. Met U had been Chloe's dream, but she had always imagined that Lois would be there too. Now it was happening, albeit a little faster and earlier than they had thought it would, but it was happening. And that was all that really mattered.

Lois pulled a set of keys from her back and held it aloft. "What d'ya say, roomie?"

"I say… Whoo-freaking-hoo!" Chloe jumped from her seat and plopped onto the couch next to Lois, receiving a few glances from neighboring patrons.

Ignoring them, Chloe grabbed the keys from Lois's hand and wrapped an arm around her cousin. "This is going to be great!"

Lois smiled and studied her cousin's profile. Reaching to tug lightly on one of the blonde locks of hair, she nodded. "Yes, it is."

* * *

Chloe released a short burst of air and dropped a large duffel bag onto the floor. "Okay. That's the last of it." 

Lois laughed and tossed her a bottle of water. "Who would have thought you would have that much crap after just one semester?" she asked, reclining onto the futon.

Chloe sat on the floor and leaned against her bag. She unscrewed the top off of the water bottle and took a long drink. "I don't have any idea where all of this stuff comes from!"

Lois shook her head and pulled her ponytail loose, letting her hair fall free. "It happens to everyone. It's like the Freshman 15. You start off with a carload of stuff, and by the end of the year, you need a moving van."

Chloe smiled and looked at their new apartment in awe. "How in the world did you get us in Family Housing?"

Lois shrugged. "We're family, and we needed housing."

"Lois…"

"Hey, a journalist never reveals her sources, and a magician never reveals her tricks."

Chloe smirked. "So… which one of those are you?"

She laughed as she ducked the throw pillow that sailed past her head, and watched as Lois leaned her head back onto the futon, closed her eyes, and reached back to massage her neck.

"What's going on, Lois?"

Lois opened one eye. "Hmmm?"

Chloe nibbled lightly on her bottom lip. When Lois had surprised her last week at the campus coffee shop with news about the move, she had been too excited to do her usual over-analysis of the situation. Now that the hustle and bustle of moving had died down, her thinking cap had been restored.

"This whole thing, Met U… leaving Smallville… It's all going pretty fast."

Lois closed the eye again and smirked. "But if you think about it, it really isn't. Remember the time I decided that I wanted to backpack across Europe… in the middle of senior year?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. Yes, she remembered. Lois had left the next day. "Yes, and that is why you failed senior year… and ended up at Smallville High with me."

"And was that so bad?"

"Hey, I wasn't the one complaining every five minutes about Cowtown, USA… It seemed for a little while that the place was growing on you. You were at the Kent farm for over a year…"

"…So it was about time that I got out of there, don't you think?" Lois interjected.

Chloe ignored her and continued. "…_And_ you were wearing flannel."

"You can't prove it." Lois knew that look Chloe was giving her without even opening her eyes. "It was the only thing clean at the time."

Chloe arched an eyebrow in an attempt to mimic Lois's patented expression. Lois opened her eyes and stood. "Shut up," she laughed, turning to walk toward the kitchen.

Chloe rose to her feet and followed. She found her leaning into the refrigerator.

"What are we having for dinner?"

Chloe peered over her shoulder. "There's nothing in there," she reminded her.

Lois pushed the door shut. "Pizza it is."

Chloe hopped onto the counter and waited while Lois used her cell phone to order their food. When she was done, Chloe looked up expectantly.

"25 minutes… What?"

"What was the reaction from the Kents when you told them you were leaving in less than a week?"

Lois crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes in thought. "I believe there was leaping and peals of joyous laughter. That falls somewhere between very relieved and ecstatic."

Chloe frowned. She knew that wasn't true. With a sigh, she sadly looked away from her cousin. It didn't seem that Lois had any intention of being straight with her. "Look, I'm not trying to hound you or anything… I just worry. Something's wrong, and I guess I'm a little hurt that you don't trust me enough to tell me what it is."

Lois's posture slouched a bit. Chloe always pulled the guilt card. Not that she meant to, it was just that Lois was only vulnerable to it when wielded by Chloe or Lucy.

"Okay, so Clark was the only one leaping and laughing, but mostly because he doesn't have to sleep on the couch anymore. Mo… Mrs. Kent seemed a little surprised, but everybody was supportive."

Chloe was hopeful that the admission meant more was coming. "What is it that they don't know that I should?"

"Don't you what to wait for the pizza?"

"Lois."

"Okay. Just a suggestion." Lois released a heavy sigh. "I'm… ah… I'm in a little trouble."

"Trouble?" Chloe's face scrunched in confusion. Lois usually didn't let trouble bother her. She was always in some proximity to it.

Lois knew what she was thinking and nodded. "Yeah. It's big this time."

Chloe wondered what was bigger than getting kicked out of school or being caught joy riding in an Apache helicopter.

Lois trembled as a chill went through her spine and left the kitchen. With wide eyes, Chloe swung herself off of the counter and trailed behind her.

Lois stood in front of the living room window and traced invisible patterns on the glass. Chloe was a bit shell shocked at seeing her cousin like this. If whatever this thing that Lois was facing was so big that it overwhelmed her usually strong spirit, Chloe wasn't sure she would be able to handle it. Hell, she wasn't sure if the both of them together would even be enough.

Chloe stood quietly beside her for a moment. "Lois, if it's that big, maybe you should have stayed in Smallville. The Kents are really good at dealing with big stuff."

They were silent for an uncomfortable moment before Lois spoke. "I never really had parents… I mean the General is my Father, of course, but in a formal sir-yes-sir kind of way. I didn't think I was missing anything until Mr. and Mrs. Kent… Sure, it was hard to have to listen to someone else all of a sudden and to have to respect rules, curfews, dinner times…"

Lois laughed and placed her anxious hand flat against the glass. "…But it was nice. At first I started calling them Mom and Dad just to rile Farm Boy, and because it was less formal than the Mister and Missus thing. After a while, I called them that because I really felt it, you know?" she asked, turning her head to face Chloe.

Chloe wasn't sure she did know what that was like, but it sounded nice. "So, then why not tell them? Let them help?"

"I didn't want them to be disappointed, and I knew this would do it. Nail in my coffin, so to speak. I've never really cared what anyone thought, it's what kept me free. But now… ugh!" Lois threw her hands up in exasperation.

"You know the Kents better than that, Lois. They wouldn't be disappointed in you and I'm sure they would do everything in their power to help you."

"Not this time, Chloe."

Chloe hesitated. She wanted to protest Lois's pessimism but decided against it. "But you're going to tell me, right?"

Lois studied her cousin's face. She was worried about what would happen when the younger girl would no longer look up to her. It had been flattering… while it lasted. "Right," she confirmed, almost sadly.

Lois locked her hands in front of her waist. It was a position she unconsciously entered when her composure was in danger of slipping. Years of training in dance had left lingering effects.

She began telling the story that she had pieced together. "I was supposed to be studying one night at the Central K library and woke up the next morning with a hangover. But I didn't have anything to drink… and certainly not the amount that it would take to get me like that, because you know I don't do that stuff anymore… it was just a childish, immature phase… Anyway, I didn't think much about it because I had other stuff to do, but now I think that it might have been drug induced."

When Lois stopped to take a breath, Chloe did the same. She hadn't realized that in trying to focus on the words that Lois was saying, she had been holding her breath. "Drug induced?"

Lois glanced away from Chloe's expression and continued. "There were a couple of Finals Week parties being thrown on Frat Row that night. I'm almost positive that I didn't go anywhere near them… but I don't remember getting home… and there's a whole span of time where I have no idea what happened. At least, I don't know for certain, because I kind of have an idea. I think somebody, somehow, some way, gave me Roofie, and um… took advantage of me." Lois swallowed. "I'm pregnant."

_Knock, Knock, Knock._

"Pizza's here!" Lois announced, practically sprinting to the door. "I'll get it."

Chloe's heart must have lodged in her throat because for a moment she was unable to utter a word. On the other hand, may have been her brain that had gotten stuck, because she could only form one coherent thought.

"Oh my God."

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**TBC**  
_05.20.06 – Chapter 2_

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	3. TWO

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**TWO**

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Chloe tapped her hands nervously against her mug. It was funny how out of place you could feel when you had been away from a familiar place for a while. Her eyes shot around the room, noticing the changes in décor and in faces. Lois would kill her if she knew she was here.

Chloe was at a loss for what to do. Even with the mix of Meteor Freaks running free across the Great Plains, life had never been so complicated for the young woman. Growing up meant having to make decisions that affected the lives of other people too.

It wasn't that she hadn't made those types of decisions before; it was just that she was now thinking about affecting other people's lives _ahead_ of time. There once was a time when all she cared about was how it affected her.

Maturity. It meant doing some stuff you didn't want to do, and some stuff you _had_ to. She and Lois couldn't do this one alone.

It had been almost a month since they'd moved into the apartment… It was funny how time flew by… and things were slowly falling into a comfortable routine, although it had been shaky for a while. After Lois's admission, Chloe had insisted that she report it. In Chloe's mind, no one could blame Lois for the situation, especially since she couldn't even remember what happened!

Lois had been adamantly opposed to the idea. Chloe knew that there was a boatload of guilt, anger, and disappointment being carried around on those shoulders. If only the head that was up there as well wasn't so stubborn.

Lois refused to report it as a crime: "I don't know what happened, I don't know where I was, and I don't know who I was with. I'm not ready to be made a laughing stock. I'm not a victim."

Chloe had tried to convince her that reporting the situation might unearth a witness, but Lois wasn't moved.

Chloe couldn't imagine what she would do if she were in Lois's position. One night she had stood in the doorway of Lois's room and quietly reminded her that it was early enough to make it go away. Women had options.

She would never forget the look in Lois's eyes. It was one of determination… and something almost protective.

Nor would she forget what Lois had said: "It's not fair to punish an innocent for a lack of judgment on my part. Miracles are never planned, Chloe. They blindside you like a two-by-four to the back of the head."

Lois also refused to tell anyone, including her father or Lucy. She figured that she wasn't showing yet, so she would live a little longer… seeing that once the General found out he would kill her… Then he would revive her so he could kill her again. Chloe thought that was only a mild exaggeration.

Somehow, Chloe didn't think that delaying the inevitable confrontation would make it better. When Chloe pushed for her to tell, Lois promised that she would disappear. That threat scared Chloe more than anything else. She knew Lois would do it.

And so, she kept it to herself, and the weight of responsibility and secrecy was getting heavier to carry by the day.

In times like these, you go to someone you trust, someone who is stable and who you feel comfortable around. You go to someone who was always there for you when you needed him.

"Chloe? Hey!"

Clark.

Chloe rose from her seat to return the hug.

"I didn't know you were back in town!"

Chloe favored him with a wide grin and they sat down. "Well, I'm not. I mean, not back, really. Just visiting… if that's what it's called when you drive three and a half hours to get a cup of coffee because you just need something familiar once in a while… Sorry. Did I say hi?"

Clark laughed at her babble. "I have really missed you. How's Met U treating you?"

"Good. It's good." She took a sip of her coffee.

Clark frowned. She seemed a little edgy… for Chloe, that is… but they had grown apart a little since she left Smallville, so it was possible that he didn't know her as well as he used to. He shrugged it off and they started exchanging stories from their different campuses. It was nice to reconnect.

Eventually, the conversation came around to Lois.

"How _is_ Lois? Mom was saying the other day that she was surprised she hasn't heard from her since she moved out." Clark grinned. "But that's Lois for you; jumping from one thing to the next without a care in the world."

Chloe bristled slightly. "I think she might be a little different… now."

"Yeah? Huh. A serious Lois?" Clark teased with a laugh. "Now that's something I should see."

Clark's eyes twinkled and Chloe relaxed. She knew that Clark and Lois had become somewhat begrudging friends during the time that she stayed with his family. They gave each other flak, but it was all in fun.

"You should," Chloe agreed. "See her, I mean."

Chloe knew she was flirting with disaster, but Clark had been her touchstone once and he was a good friend. He was Lois's friend too, and Chloe felt that her cousin could use another one of those right about now.

"…Like visit or something. I don't want us to get distant again. Today has been really great."

Clark tried to discern if there was something underlying the invitation but discarded the thought. "Yeah, maybe I will come and check you guys out sometime. I don't want us to lose touch either. Same for Lois."

"Well, I need to get started on the return trip, so…" Chloe gathered her things and moved to stand. "When you do come, you don't need to call or anything. In fact, don't… Just come. OK?"

She pulled a piece of paper out of her purse. "Here's the address."

Chloe gave him a quick hug and headed to the door. "See you soon."

As Clark watched her leave, the smile on his face faded slightly. The part about not calling sounded more like an instruction than an invitation. Chloe wanted him to come up to Metropolis for some reason, and she wanted it to be an unplanned, unannounced visit.

Something was wrong. And he was almost positive that it had to do with Chloe's erstwhile cousin.

* * *

"And then he said that it wasn't the place for a girl reporter. Can you believe the nerve of that guy?" Chloe asked, taking a croissant from the plate on the table.

"I'm almost afraid to ask what you did to him after that," Lois snarked.

_Knock, Knock, Knock._

Lois reached to unhook her jacket from the back of a kitchen chair and glanced at her cousin. "Are you expecting anyone?"

Chloe's brow creased as she shook her head. "Uh-uh."

Shrugging, Lois made her way to the door. After looking through the peephole, she swore under her breath.

Curious, Chloe stepped into the kitchen doorframe to see who was at the door.

Sucking in a quick breath, Lois swung the door open. "Smallville. Hi. What are you doing here?"

"I was in town and thought I would come and visit."

"In town…" Lois repeated, shooting a dark glance at her cousin.

Chloe's eyes widened slightly at the implication and she discreetly shook her head. Swallowing the bite of croissant she had been chewing, she gave Clark a bright smile. "Clark! Hey, come on in!"

Lois shot her another glare before turning back to Clark. Uncomfortable with the way his gaze seemed to be studying her; she clutched her jacket tighter, moving it a little higher against her waist. She quickly stepped to the side. "Yeah. Come in."

Clark smiled and stepped inside. "This is nice," he remarked looking around. "How have you guys been?"

When there was no immediate answer, Clark turned to see the cousins trading Jedi stares. He looked away to keep from smiling. His wasn't the only family that had non-verbals.

"Fine," Lois said, stepping away from the door but leaving it open. "Great, actually. School is hectic and work is busy. Speaking of work, I need to get out of here or I'll be late."

She bent to grab her bag from the floor and stepped outside. "Nice to see you, Kent. Sorry I have to run, but maybe we can catch up the next time you're in town. Bye, Chlo."

When the doors shut behind her, Clark stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at Chloe with raised eyebrows.

Smiling, she walked over and tucked an arm around one of his elbows. "I'm glad you came," she told him.

"I think you're the only one," he commented. ""All she needed was a rifle and I would have been run out of town."

"Clark, come on, she didn't kick you out or anything."

"Maybe the '_next time_' I'm in town…" he repeated.

Chloe laughed. "Okay, so maybe she implied that she wouldn't see you again during this visit, but look at it this way… you have an open invitation to come back."

"Riiight. That's exactly what she meant."

Chloe released his arm and walked back toward the kitchen. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Sure," he replied, following her. "Um… milk?"

Chloe smirked, and pulled the refrigerator open. "Can't take the farm out of the boy."

"So, what brings you all this way?" Chloe asked, setting the glass of milk in front of him.

Clark frowned. "I thought you wanted me to come."

"I did! I mean, I do, but I guess I didn't expect you so soon."

Clark frowned again. "Since I saw you at the Talon, I've had this… unsettling feeling. Like something's not right. And then when I saw Lois today… something's different."

Chloe gulped. Her expression did not go unnoticed by Clark.

"Something's different about Lois?" she asked, lightly.

Clark wondered if the question was rhetorical. He decided to go out on a limb and answer the question that he should have been asking. "Yes. But I don't know what it is."

He caught Chloe's gaze. "What is it, Chloe? You can tell me."

She sighed, and he knew that she wanted to.

"No. I can't."

He read the rest in her eyes: Lois didn't want her to. He needed to get if from the source if he was going to get it at all.

"She doesn't want to see me," he replied to her silent plea.

"It's not just you, Clark. She doesn't want to see anyone."

Clark reached out and laid a comforting hand on Chloe's shoulder. His experience had taught him a lot about secrets. He had learned about keeping them, trusting others to keep them, and knowing when it was better to reveal them. Some of those lessons, he and Chloe had learned together.

If she felt this was one of those times when secrets caused more harm than good, he would help out as much as he could.

"So… Where exactly does she work?"

* * *

Clark looked around in surprise. When a place was nicknamed "the Morgue," you expected it to be dark, gloomy, and stuffy. At the Daily Planet, however, the moniker was a total contradiction. The archives were not located in the basement, as one might expect. They were kept in a library, two floors above the main newsroom. Naturally lit with large windows, the sunlight entered and reflected against wood shelving that contrasted warmly with the dark red railings and furniture.

"Shouldn't you be on your way back to Smallville by now?" Lois asked without looking up.

"I have a little more time before class. Care to go for something to drink? Coffee or something?"

Lois sighed and looked up. "I'm a little busy right now."

Clark leaned over to see what she was working on. "Reading _Faces Magazine_?"

"Its research," she retorted, rolling her eyes. "Society Page needs background on the lastest Star Couple. There's something about beautiful people in love with one another that keeps the American public enthralled."

Clark turned so he could sit on the edge of the table. "Mom's been asking about you."

Lois nibbled on her bottom lip and dropped her gaze, turning her focus back to her work. "Tell her I said hello," she said softly, scribbling away on her notepad.

Clark noted the wistful tone and placed a hand over hers to stop her from writing.

"You could tell her yourself… maybe call, or come and visit."

Lois pulled her hand away from him and continued writing. "Maybe," she answered unconvincingly.

Clark knew that Lois and his mother had developed a bond and searched his mind for something that could explain why Lois would want to distance herself.

"What kind of trouble are you in, Lois?"

Lois dropped her pen, slid the chair back, and slowly rose to her feet. She stepped back so she could face him; her chin rising in defiance. "Why would you assume that I'm in trouble?"

As he had been when she had opened the door that morning, Clark found himself drawn to study her closely. Something tickled the back of his mind.

"What!" Lois exclaimed in an annoyed whisper.

"You're pregnant," Clark stated flatly. He didn't know how he knew. He just did.

Remarkably, Lois kept her face impassive. After a brief moment, she spun on her heel and walked away. Clark's eyes widened as his guess was confirmed.

He caught sight of Lois just as she was walking past the main desk.

"Scott, I'm taking a smoke break," she told her colleague as she disappeared behind the stacks.

"_Smoke break_?", Clark repeated to himself, incredulously.

Clark sprang into motion and followed only to find that she was gone. Walking to the elevator bay, he glanced at the LED numbers on the wall panel to help him guess where she had gone, but none of the cars were anywhere near the Morgue floor. Turning to his right, he spotted the stairwell and decided to go that way.

Using his hearing, he was able to find her a few minutes later on the roof.

"You shouldn't smoke in your condition," he said, addressing her back.

"No. If I _had_ a condition, I shouldn't smoke."

"I thought you quit," he said, frowning.

"I did." She turned to face him, holding up the licorice stick she had been chewing on.

Clark smirked. "Why did you say you were going on a smoke break, then?"

She swirled the candy in the air. "Because lung health-conscious people don't get paid breaks to support their sugar addictions."

A little of the tension went out of Clark's posture. "I want to help."

"I don't need any help."

"Don't need it, or don't want it?"

"Both."

Clark sighed. "Hey, I know we tried not to show it, but we were pretty good at being friends once. And, while you were taking over my room, borrowing my parents, and stealing my shirts, I got a chance to see the person behind all that Lane bravado. Underneath the tough exterior, there's the girl that loves hugs, cries at Hallmark commercials, and rolls with a dog in the fields even though he makes her sneeze."

"You weren't supposed to see all that…"

"I notice a lot of things, Lois," Clark said softly, with a lopsided grin. "And, I need to apologize."

"For what?"

"You've seen me through some of my worst moments… Amnesia, twice. Lana… more than twice… Now let me do a better job of returning the favor. I should have known something wasn't right when you left, but you can be so dang convincing."

When her expression didn't soften he tried his trump card. "Or, I can just tell my Mom and have her get it out of you."

"You can't do that!" Lois exclaimed angrily.

"Why not?"

"Damnit, Smallville. It's complicated."

Clark shrugged. "It usually is with you. Explain it to me. How did this happen?"

Lois glared at him, silently trying to judge if she should spill. Part of her missed the playful banter that had surrounded their relationship. She longed for the days of innocence… and abstinence.

"You need me to draw you a diagram?" she snarled.

Clark shook his head. "Humor as a distancing mechanism…"

"What are you, a Psych major now?"

"If I was, I'd probably say that you're pretty close to breaking," he replied, gently.

There was one thing that Lois hated more than having someone call her out as being weak; it was when they were right. She decided to use another distancing mechanism. Anger.

"Go to hell." She turned to walk to the door. When Clark grabbed her arms to stop her, she exploded. "You want to know? I can't tell you because _I_ don't know!"

Clark couldn't help but gasp as Lois launched into an explanation of what she remembered… and what she didn't … about the events that led up to her current circumstances. When she finished, she narrowed her eyes at him.

"Now, go ahead and tell me how irresponsible I was, and how stupid I am for not wanting to be the next poster child for Victims-Are-Us."

Clark forced his jaw to close and looked her in the eye. He could see the tears that were threatening to fall. He knew Lois hated to be vulnerable and this situation had to be killing her. "I wouldn't do that."

With his hands still on her shoulders, Clark suddenly felt the urge to protect her. Pulling her in closer, he wrapped his arms around her in an embrace. "Tell me what I can do."

Lois pushed against his chest and freed herself. "What you can do is… forget about all of this."

She bolted for the door and disappeared inside the building.

Clark contemplated going after her, but glanced down at his watch. He was going to be late for class, and there was no way Lois would want to talk about any of this right now. With a sigh he decided to head back to campus.

Once on the street, he ducked into a neighboring alley and started running.

"So nice of you to join us, Mr. Kent," Clark's math professor announced when Clark stepped into the room. All eyes turned to him as he made his way to the only available seat; which unfortunately was located in the front row.

Just as he was about to sit down, Professor Taylor spoke again. "Before you get comfortable, perhaps you would do us the honor of solving problem number 8 on the board."

"Uh… sure."

Grimacing, he pulled his notebook out of his bag and made his way to the board. All he could think about was Lois.

* * *

Lois pulled her hair out of the ponytail holder as she stooped to untie her shoes. She was tired… more so than she usually was after a run, and she figured that a brief nap was in order before she headed to her night class. Slipping out of her sneakers, she placed them on the rug next to the front door and headed to her room, stripping off her damp tee-shirt as she went.

With a reverent sigh, she thought about the impending nap. Every step closer to her bed seemed like a golden walkway to heaven, but she knew she needed to take a shower first.

Chloe stepped from her room as Lois started down the hallway. "I thought I heard you come in."

"Good ears," Lois replied shortly, stepping past her on the way to her bedroom.

Chloe frowned. Lois was obviously still angry with her about Clark's visit. "I didn't know what else to do, Lois."

"I know, Honey," Lois replied, turning at the entrance to her room. "But the thing is, you don't have to do anything."

Chloe watched sadly as Lois entered her room and closed the door. With a sigh, she went back to studying.

Standing just inside the door to her room, Lois leaned against the wall and closed her eyes, guilt washing over her like a waterfall. She wasn't going to put Chloe in a position to be overwhelmed by her problems.

And problems they were, she thought to herself, taking a wistful look toward the bed. Sleeping was hard to do when you had strange flashes of getting hot under the covers every night. She looked down and placed a hand on her flat stomach.

"Let's go take a shower."

* * *

**TBC**

* * *


	4. THREE

* * *

**THREE

* * *

**

* * *

Lois averted her eyes as she splashed her face with water from the bathroom faucet and then wiped it dry with a towel. She didn't want to see the face in the mirror. She had made that mistake once before after waking from a heady dream like the one she'd just had.

Seeing the darkened eyes, almost blackened by the dilated pupils, had been like the time she snuck a shot of her father's finest 90-proof whiskey when she was 13. Pure guilt on the rocks is what it was; chased by a sickening burning feeling in the back of her throat.

The dream was the same every time, and had been plaguing her for the last few weeks. Every night, she recognized herself in a heated wrestling match with a man. Skin on skin, light touches, warm caresses, and heavy panting were the fodder of her night visions… yet there was no face to accompany the body. Each morning, she awoke with a headache. It seemed that her hypothalamus, upset that she wasn't deciphering its coded messages, was out to punish her for her ineptitude.

She was ashamed because in her dream world, she wasn't fighting off a would-be attacker. Instead, she seemed to be the one taking charge of the action.

A chill racing down her spine caused her to tremble, and she pushed the damp tendrils of hair back from her forehead. It seemed that her subconscious was finding a way to unearth its hidden secrets. Lois silently cursed to herself and drew in a deep breath. She was not sure if she was ready for the revelations.

* * *

Chloe subtly watched her cousin out of the corner of her eye. Things between the two of them had soured since Clark's visit the week before. When Lois had refused to talk to her that night, she had called Clark to get the recount of what had taken place when he found her at work. Chloe had no idea how Clark guessed that Lois was pregnant, but had a feeling Lois thought it was _she_ who had blabbed. 

For an entire week, Chloe had been trying to convince Lois that she hadn't told Clark what was going on. In trying to appeal her case, Chloe had confessed to everything else she had done though, and when she admitted to hinting strongly about Clark's need to visit, a new battle had been declared.

It had ended in a truce after Lois had begrudgingly admitted that she _might_ have done the same thing if the positions were reversed. Still, while the cousins were thawing, Lois refused to talk to Clark, who had taken to calling every night to check in.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay? Because I really don't have to go to this…" Chloe began.

"Nonsense. You've been looking forward to this trip since the beginning of the year. I'll be fine. You just make sure you have a good enough time for both of us."

"See, that's what I'm talking about, Lois. I don't want you to sit around brooding all weekend."

Chloe sent her cousin a tortured expression. Once they had stopped arguing about Clark knowing Lois's secret, the debate had turned to whether or not Chloe should attend the Young Journalists of America Conference in Florida.

Part of what was making Chloe worry was that Lois had stopped sharing with her about the pregnancy. Lois seemed to think that Chloe had approached Clark because she was overwhelmed with Lois's dilemma. To some extent she had been right, but now that Chloe had been summarily taken out of the information cycle, she felt even worse.

Lois sighed and shook her head. "Relax, Cuz. I was just trying to give you extra motivation to forget all of this for a little while. It's not…"

"If you say that it's not my problem, I swear I will scream!" Chloe interrupted hotly.

Lois grimaced and replied with a guilty shrug.

"I can't believe you would say that… much less even think it!"

"I didn't say it!"

"But you would have!"

"Okay. Sorry. Just go have a good time, okay? You don't have to worry about me brooding this weekend. I've actually got plans today."

"You do?"

Lois frowned at Chloe's expression and maneuvered the car toward the curb at the airport. "Just a minute ago, you were hounding me about staying in the house, now you look like you just swallowed your gum because I said that I have plans," she considered aloud.

Chloe pulled the gum out of her mouth and deposited it into a tissue. "No… it's just… a surprise," she stuttered. "Um, are they like, plans for right after you drop me off, or plans for later?"

Lois put the car in park and turned to mockingly glare at her cousin. "What does it matter? …They're later plans!" Laughing, she leaned across the passenger side and opened the door. "Now would you get out of here and go catch up with the rest of your group?"

Chloe bit her lip and swung her legs out of the vehicle. Closing the door, she leaned against the car and peered through the open window. "I'll call you later to see how you're doing, okay?"

"Chloe, I told you, everything will be fine. Get your bags."

"But what about the ba.."

"_Everything_," Lois emphasized, with raised eyebrows. "… Will be fine. But I will literally make your life a living hell if you miss this plane."

Chloe couldn't help but laugh when Lois followed her threat with a funny pantomime of wringing someone's throat. She opened the rear door and grabbed her bags. "Okay, well, that's everything," she said as she closed the door and stepped backward onto the curb.

Lois grinned at her and winked. "Have fun. And that's an order! Remember, I'm older and bigger than you," she shouted as she eased the car back into traffic.

Chloe watched the departing car for a minute before turning to walk into the terminal. Having Lois start to tease her again meant that they were on their way to closing the gap that had entered their relationship. She only hoped that Lois's good mood would remain once she saw the surprise Chloe had left for her at their apartment.

* * *

"I should have known," Lois grumbled as she stalked through the Living Room and into her room. 

"Hello, Clark," Clark greeted himself in a mocking tone.

Rising from the futon, he walked to the entrance of her room and leaned against the doorjamb.

"So, you're breaking and entering, now?" Lois asked, rummaging through one of her dresser drawers.

"No," Clark replied with a smile. "I have a key."

Lois groaned and slammed the drawer shut. "You're kidding, right? No. Don't answer that. My cousin has little time left to live," she muttered under her breath.

"Where are you going?" Clark asked as she brushed past him carrying a pair of sweatpants and a tee-shirt.

Lois rolled her eyes. "To the bathroom, to change… is that okay?"

"No, I meant, after that."

"For a run," she tossed over her shoulder as she closed the bathroom door behind her.

Clark took a moment to consider how far to press her. If anyone were to ask him about his protective urges toward Lois, he wouldn't have been able to explain it. Back in Smallville, he'd accompanied Lois's runs often enough to know that she used them as an outlet for anxious energy.

When Chloe had voiced her concerns about Lois shutting her out, he had decided to make his way back to Metropolis. Lois might not want to talk to anyone, but he'd stick around until she did.

"I'll come along," he shouted so she could hear him through the door. "I'll just go get my luggage so I can change."

In the bathroom, Lois pressed a hand to her temple. "Great. He's got a key _and_ luggage." She couldn't help but think about the irony of Clark mirroring her encroachment of his life in Smallville.

* * *

"I _hate_ it when you run with me," Lois declared as she and Clark returned to the apartment. "You never even break a sweat. Do you know how depressing that is?" 

Clark shot her his famous grin. "I think you're in amazing shape for a pregnant lady," he offered honestly, trying to match her light tone.

Lois stiffened and Clark's grin faltered. He had never been really good at playful chiding until Lois had come into his life. Now, without her in his life every day, he was out of practice.

"Yeah," Lois said curtly. "I'm going to go jump in the shower."

Left standing alone in the entryway to the apartment, Clark mulled over his last remark wondering where he had gone wrong.

A few minutes later, Lois found him sitting on the futon, idly flipping through one of Chloe's tabloids. "It's all yours," she announced.

Lois fought to keep her expression and mannerisms normal. She had no doubt that her unwanted house guest was planning on being a royal pain in her ass all weekend, and she was hoping to ditch him while he was in the shower.

"Great, thanks." Clark noticed her surprising change in attitude but said nothing. "Towels?"

"Bathroom, under the sink," Lois replied, relieved that her plan was still on track.

She anxiously waited until the water had been running for a good five minutes before ducking out of the front door.

* * *

"How did y…?" Lois stuttered, as Clark took the seat beside her in the waiting room at the clinic. 

"I followed you," he proudly stated, leaning back into the seat.

Lois took in his damp hair and the smell of fresh soap that wafted off of him. "Oh, sure, now you decide to quit taking marathon showers," she grumbled. "Look, you really shouldn't have come…"

"I said I was going to help, and I meant it, Lois. You keep trying to shut everyone out, but you only end up hurting them," he said.

Both of them knew that he was referring to Chloe.

"What's worse is that you're hurting yourself even more."

Lois was momentarily affected by his soft speech. At times she was awed by the sincerity she saw in his eyes when he was talking about something he cared about. Shaking herself, she remembered that it was Chloe he was worried about. As far as she was concerned, she neither needed, nor deserved his attention.

Lois Lane would take care of herself as she always had.

Shaking off the effects of Clark's words, Lois opened her mouth to protest. She was interrupted by a nurse stepping toward her chair.

"Hi, Lois. Why don't you come on back?" She turned toward Clark with a smile, having noticed that their earlier conversation had seemed intimate. "And, Mr…"

"Uh…Clark," he told her, rising to his feet.

"Mr. Clark…"

"No, sorry," Clark grinned, winning the nurse over immediately. "My name is Clark Kent. But no mister or anything."

The nurse laughed and reached to accept the handshake he was offering. "Well, Clark with no mister. I'm Sandy. Are you coming back with Lois?"

"Yes. I am." Clark spouted, defiantly; ignoring the glare that Lois was giving him.

Sandy smiled and looked down to mark something on her chart. She was happy to see that Lois had a support system building around her. It was rare for the young women who came into the clinic to have their male counterparts join them. Rare, yet ever so important.

"Follow me," Sandy instructed, turning toward the door that led to the examination rooms.

Lois sprung from her seat and grabbed his arm. "What do you think you're doing?"

"What?"

Lois ran a hand through her hair. To be brutally honest, a part of her was relieved that Clark had barged into her day. This particular appointment had been one that she was both dreading and anticipating. The strain of acting like she had everything under control was getting harder and harder to conceal. She grudgingly acknowledged that she needed… and _wanted_… someone to be there with her today.

"Fine," she sighed. "But you stay by my head."

Clark blanched. He didn't know what he'd been thinking, but for some reason, he had thought that this would just be a talking visit. "Uh…" he managed. "Maybe, I should just…um, wait…"

Lois arched an eyebrow in amusement. "Oh, no you don't. After all the fuss you made, you're coming." She turned and pulled him behind her.

A smile broke out on her face. Now that Clark was feeling uncomfortable instead of her, she was feeling that the planets were realigning themselves.

* * *

Dr Hagan pressed a few keys on the machine with her right hand and froze the image on the screen. "Well, there you go," she said, handing Lois a small towel. She laughed at Clark's expression and stood. "I'll give you two a few minutes. I'll be back in a little while to ask you a few more questions, and then you're all set to go." 

With a final smile, she stepped from the room, pulling the door shut behind her.

Clark was finally jarred from his trance at the sound of the door closing. "Wow," he repeated for what the tenth time. "This is just so… wow."

He moved from the chair next to the table that he was sitting in, and sat down on the little stool Dr Hagan had just vacated.

He leaned closer to the screen. The ultrasound had finally made it real for him. Lois was going to have a baby.

With his mouth still agape, he turned to face her; dimly aware that it was the first time he had done so since the exam began. He was surprised to see the tears glistening in her eyes.

Immediately, he felt the need to protect her… them. "Lois, what's wrong?" he asked, reaching for her hand.

She just sniffed and tugged her shirt down to cover her midriff. Clark's gaze was drawn back to the screen. "I can't believe that's a little person in there."

Lois sniffed again, and Clark turned to face her with a worried expression.

"I can't see it," she confessed.

Clark frowned. "But when Dr Hagan asked, you said you could."

"I lied!" She let out a teary chuckle. "I didn't want to seem like a bad mother, and she was talking about a spine and a skull… and it all just looks like…static." She used a clean edge of the little towel to wipe her eyes. "God, I'm pathetic."

Clark bit back a laugh. "No, you're not. Here, look." He pointed to the screen. "Right there, see?"

Lois squinted for a moment, and then fell back with another sniff. "I still can't see it."

Clark tightened his grip on the hand he still held, and pulled her forward. "No, look. Right here… that little thing that looks like a peanut…"

Lois's breath caught. "Oh, I saw _that_. I didn't know that was what she was talking about. Oh… wow. Hi, Peanut."

They were still gazing at the screen when Dr. Hagan stepped back into the room. She smiled at the young couple. Members of the clinic staff couldn't help but worry about the patients that were under their care. From the looks of it, they could rest assured that this family would be all right.

* * *

**

* * *

TBC**

* * *


	5. FOUR

**

* * *

FOUR

* * *

**

* * *

"So that was… intense, right?" Clark asked as they exited through the clinic's glass doors. 

Lois shot him an odd look but couldn't stop the grin that spread across her face. She had spent weeks filled with anxiety while waiting for this doctor's appointment: the one where she would see the little person who would be sharing all of her future meals for the first time.

With the appointment behind her, she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She knew that the visit to the doctor didn't end the source of her worries, but somehow, the small delicate skeletal structure that had appeared on the screen allowed her a brief reprise from the drama she had been encased in since she'd gotten the news. Trying to figure out the who, the what, and the how of her pregnancy had shrouded her in uncertainty; threatening to bury her under guilt about the decisions she had made concerning the child.

But now, for this moment, she wanted to push all of that aside and pretend that she was ok. For today at least, Lois was determined to be happy.

She was extremely grateful for Clark's presence, even though she had tried to divert it earlier. She thought back to his reaction to the ultrasound monitor and smiled.

As they started to walk down the sidewalk, Clark reached for her arm and tucked it around his elbow for support. She rolled her eyes at the gesture but didn't pull away. She wasn't a fragile human whale, yet.

Lois tilted her head to the sky and studied the clouds, feeling secure in knowing that Clark's arm would keep her from running into anything while she wasn't looking. They were silent for a moment before she felt the need to speak.

"Lucy and I used to have this game when we were little," she started. "We would ask each other what we'd rather do: fly or be invisible."

Clark turned his head to look at her. Thinking about her military upbringing he smiled with confidence. "Fly, right?"

She shook her head. "Invisible." At his questioning look, her eyes took on a faraway gaze. "To be able to walk through all the closed doors…"

Clark silently thought about her answer. "What do you think you would find behind those doors?" he asked.

Lois shrugged. "I don't know. Something wonderful… different. Something that I don't have, or can't have. I don't like to be out of control and I don't like to be denied."

Clark tucked the information away for later. "It seems to me that you do a pretty good job of getting through obstacles on your own."

"Maybe," she muttered in return. "But there would be less bruising if I were invisible," she added softly.

Clark opened his mouth to comment, but she smiled brightly and titled her head to look up at him. "You'd choose to fly? I thought you were afraid of heights."

Clark nodded in agreement to both statements. "I used to be, but I think that I've learned that fear is just one more door keeping you away from something wonderful."

Lois smirked at his play on her words and turned to look back to the front as they walked. "Well, if you start flying one day, maybe I'll hitch a ride and see if it changes my mind."

Clark smiled. Glancing at her profile as they walked, he found himself wanting to know more about Lois's condition. Having witnessed the miracle he'd seen on the ultrasound monitor, he was fast becoming enthralled with the whole process. When she had been sitting in the reclined chair with her midriff exposed, Clark had been amazed that she didn't visibly look pregnant, and yet the proof was right there on the screen.

"So, how does it feel? The baby, I mean… in there…" he began awkwardly.

Lois chuckled. "It doesn't feel like anything, really. I almost convinced myself that it was all a misunderstanding, that I really had the flu… Just a really long lasting flu… but today really put it in stone, you know?"

"Yeah," Clark answered softly. "I mean, no. I don't really know how it must be for you, but I know that it feels real now." He frowned at his lame response. The day's experience had left him a bit befuddled. "I don't think that made any sense."

Lois simply smiled.

"Is it too early for cravings?" Clark wondered. It was the one thing he remembered as being a symptom of pregnancy.

Lois stopped walking and frowned thoughtfully. "So far, there really is only one thing I am pathetically addicted to. I go to the Granite Chip Creamery and order strawberry ice cream with dill pickles mixed in."

Clark's face scrunched as he tried to imagine the taste.

Lois laughed at the expression on his face and pulled her arm from his elbow to punch his shoulder. "It's good! Don't knock it 'til you try it."

Her eyes drifted closed as she tried to explain. "There's something about sweet, fruity, salty, and sour all at the same time that is just perfect." She licked her lips as if she could taste it right then.

Clark felt the sudden urge to kiss her and without having made a conscious effort, he found himself leaning toward her with parted lips.

"You should see the look I get when I order, though," Lois said, opening her eyes. Startled at his closeness, Lois blinked and took a step back.

The spell now broken, Clark abruptly returned to an upright position with widened eyes. Taking in the motion, Lois regarded him with a puzzled expression.

"Wha…?" she stuttered.

"Uh… um." Clark swallowed hard, unsure of what had propelled him to move as he had. He decided to use one of Lois's patented maneuvers and changed the subject. "Do you want to grab something to eat? I'm starving."

Lois's eyes narrowed slightly as she studied his face. She didn't know (at least she didn't _think_ she knew) what he had been about to do when she opened her eyes, but she could tell that he didn't want to talk about it. And that was just fine with her.

She had been having a good day so far. It wasn't something that she had expected when she woke up that morning, and it was something that she had rarely experienced since the day her life had changed. Determined to keep the light happiness that had descended upon her demeanor, she chose to ignore what could potentially turn out to be a serious talk.

"You want to know what?" she asked, breaking into a sly grin. "I'm hungry too. Getting something to eat sounds like a great idea."

* * *

Clark smiled as he listened to Lois tell a story about yet another stunt she and Lucy pulled during a summer when they had visited their father in Normandy. Sitting across from her next to a large window at the café, he was reminded of the times they would happen to eat together on the campus of Central Kansas before she left town. 

It was rare for them to meet, as their schedules were almost polar opposites time-wise. Clark had decided to pursue as many late afternoon and night classes as he could in order to be at the farm during the mornings to help with the chores. Lois, on the other hand, would spend her days in class before heading back to town to spell Martha at the Talon for the late shift. Even though they were living under the same roof, they had almost never seen one another, so their brief lunches on campus had often been used to catch up.

He hadn't realized how much he missed talking to her until now.

His thoughts traveled back to earlier that day when he had almost kissed her. Thankfully, she had been willing to ignore it and had accepted his invitation to go get something to eat. As they walked to the café, he had searched his mind for a logical explanation for his sudden change in feelings toward Lois. Could he really be attracted to her, or was it just a reaction to not having seen her for a while?

He had to admit (although only to himself) that he had always had a base attraction to her since the day they met. Could it just be that it was the distance and separation that had sparked dormant feelings?

Now, over thirty minutes since that almost-fateful encounter, he was circling around an answer to that question. His eyes softened as he gazed across the table at her. He was trying to note the changes in her since he had last seen her, trying to see if motherhood was beginning to show in any way. In an ironic twist, he realized that he had spent his high school years and part of his college career chasing Lana Lang when Lois had blown into his life like a breath of fresh air. With a smile, he amended the thought. He was the one who had dropped out of the sky in front of her car.

"Hey… where did you go?"

Clark blinked and realized that Lois was asking him something.

"Huh?"

Lois chuckled and stole the pickle from his plate. "You haven't heard a word I've said for the last ten minutes. What are you thinking about?"

"Lana," Clark replied honestly.

"Ah. I see." Lois nodded with raised eyebrows. "That girl really did a number on you, didn't she?"

She dropped the pickle onto her plate and reached for her napkin. She was inexplicably disappointed with his answer.

"No, not like that," Clark added. "I was thinking about you and Lana… and what's happening…" He gestured awkwardly at her midsection, hidden beneath the table.

Lois lowered her napkin onto her lap with a sigh. "Yeah… she wouldn't get herself into something like this."

"I was thinking that you were pretty amazing to be able to handle this so well… And that no one else I know is as strong as you are."

Lois pulled her gaze away from his. The truth of the matter was that she didn't know if she was handling her condition entirely that well. "Thanks," she muttered under breath.

She began swirling the ice cubes around in her glass of water.

Clark watched the blocks of ice knock against one another in the liquid. "Can I ask you something?"

Lois shrugged her agreement without looking up.

"Why… why did you decide to keep the baby? I mean, considering what happened…" he faltered uncomfortably.

He had been awed at the experience at the doctor's appointment. He was amazed to see that even at eight weeks old (an estimate from Dr. Hagan), the embryo had little arms, legs, and a tiny pumping heart. What amazed him even more than that, though, was Lois's resolve. He knew that her circumstances would give pause to even the staunchest pro-life supporters.

When Lois didn't reply after a few minutes, he wondered if he had stumbled into forbidden territory.

Lois slowly released a breath. "I thought about it… about not keeping the baby."

She lifted her head and stared off into the distance. "Even though I don't know who… the baby's father is, I know for sure that part of him is me. And part of that is my family… part of my mother. I guess I just decided that your birth, or your conception, doesn't necessarily determine who you are."

Her gaze dropped to her stomach. "Or who you could be," she finished softly.

Clark pondered a response but decided that what she'd said was enough. With a compassionate smile, he reached out and took her hand in one of his. Softly rubbing the back of it with his thumb, he silently vowed that he would do everything in his power to protect her.

* * *

"You think it's a boy?" 

Lois stifled a yawn and blinked down at Clark from her position on the futon. When they had returned to the apartment, Lois had conceded to watch a DVD before going to bed. He was lying on the floor while she was stretched out on her back across the futon.

"Who?" Lois asked, squinting at the TV screen and trying to decipher what part of the movie she had dozed off on.

"The baby," Clark clarified. "You said 'him' when you were talking earlier." Clark rolled onto his back and looked up at her. The flickering lights from the screen illuminated her face against the darkness of the room.

"Oh. I don't know. It didn't feel right to say 'it' so I picked one. I just hope she doesn't get confused when I switch back and forth," Lois teased over a yawn.

The serious atmosphere that had descended on dinner had lifted, and in her drowsy state, Lois felt free enough and comfortable enough to be humorous. Letting her eyelids close she decided that she didn't care how much of the movie she had missed.

"You said 'she' this time," Clark pointed out.

"Hmmm," she grunted in reply.

Clark grinned and rolled back to face the TV. Behind him, Lois's breathing deepened as she drifted to sleep.

* * *

Lois didn't avoid the mirror when she woke up the next morning even though she wanted to. It was time to confront her demons. 

The night before had yet again been filled with unsettling dreams, but they had just gotten worse. Now, she was projecting.

Her stupid subconscious had taken the face of the one person who had showed her a smidgen of kindness and support, and had placed it on the body of her dream companion. Lois knew that the new-found identity of her nightly visitor was only because they had practically spent the day together.

As she reached for a towel to dry her face, she sighed and willed her mind to imagine something… anything… besides the naked torso of her houseguest, because… well, that would just make things awkward.

"Damn hormones," she grumbled, tossing the towel over the rack and reaching for the doorknob.

"Do you mind?" she demanded, seeing Clark seated on the futon when she exited the bathroom.

He groggily ran a hand through his hair, mussing it. "What?"

Lois gritted her teeth. The hair thing made her uncomfortable.

"I thought we had passed the clothing optional part of our relationship," she quipped, tightening the sash of her robe to underscore her point. "Could you please put some clothes on?"

Clark frowned as he glanced down at his sleepwear. He was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts, but didn't see why that was a problem. This was how he always slept, and it had never bothered Lois when she had lived with his family in Smallville. He wondered why it was different now.

As he reached to massage the back of his neck, Lois grunted and stalked toward her room. Clark reached for a tee-shirt and pulled it over his head. Thinking that Lois's attitude had done a complete 180 degree turn since the night before, he stood up and headed for the bathroom.

* * *

Lois sighed in relief when she heard the bathroom door shut. She needed a little more time to gain her composure. Quickly throwing on some jeans and a light sweater, she went into the kitchen. 

"So, I was thinking…"

Startled by the sound of his voice right behind her, Lois fumbled with the glass that she had pulled from the cabinet. Clark reached out to help her steady it.

"Um… thanks," she said, slowly detaching both her hand and the glass from his grasp. Without meeting his eyes, she turned to open the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of orange juice.

After a beat, Clark nodded and started again. "I was thinking that we had a good day yesterday."

Lois focused on pouring her juice. "It was okay," she replied lightly.

"Hmm." Clark studied her profile, trying to figure out what was going on inside that head of hers. She seemed to be fidgety this morning. "I think we make a pretty good team."

Lois glanced at him out the corner of her eye. He had interfered with her composure-gaining time. "What are you getting at, Smallville?" she questioned suspiciously.

Clark shrugged and grinned. "You can't do this alone."

Lois spun to face him, ready to launch into a tirade about how small-minded of him it was to assume that she couldn't handle anything on her own, but as she turned her vision clouded. Although the dizziness passed almost instantly, her balance faltered and the juice sloshed over the rim of the glass.

Clark reached out and pulled the half-full glass from her hand and set it on the counter.

He bent his knees a little so he could study her face. "Are you okay?" he asked with concern.

"Fine. I'm fine." Lois averted her eyes from his, realizing that the concern she found there was not helping to shake off the tendrils of her dream. "My equilibrium is a little off, but I'm fine."

She took a step backwards to regain the spacing that Clark had shortened when he had moved to take the glass from her. Her retreat was halted when she bumped into the counter behind her. Forcing a grin on her face, Lois turned around and pulled some paper towels off the roll.

Clark frowned. He could tell that something was off besides her balance. "Did you sleep okay?"

Lois groaned and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I slept fine. I'm fine. The world is turning. Now would you stop?"

As she lowered to the floor to clean the spilled juice, Clark knelt next to her and reached for the paper towels that she held in her hand. Frustrated, Lois dropped the towels and stood. "You want to clean it up? Suit yourself."

As she stepped over the small puddle and moved past him, Clark stood, sidestepped the puddle, and reached for her arm.

Lois sighed at the presence of the hand on her arm but didn't turn around. She knew the expression that would be on his face without looking. "Contrary to popular belief, I can do this on my own. I'm capable of a lot more than you give me credit for, you know. I don't need anyone feeling sorry for me, or trying to give me the answers to questions I haven't asked… Not you, not Chloe… not anyone. And yesterday was… well, yesterday. That's all."

Clark felt Lois tug her arm away and resisted. Remembering how she had gripped his hand when they were looking at the ultrasound monitor, he knew that _yesterday_ meant more than what she was saying. He gently turned her around so she faced him.

"Popular belief says that Lois Lane could do anything she wanted to. I _know_ you could do this alone… I'm just telling you that you don't have to," he said in a soft tone.

Lois's stance was fierce and unmoving. Her chin was lifted defiantly and having been freed of Clark's hold when she turned around, her arms were crossed on her chest. The entire pose shouted for him to back off, but the slight shift in her eyes belied everything else. Without saying another word, Clark pulled her to his chest and wrapped his arms around her.

Lois wriggled her arms from between them and tried pushing against him to be released, but it was useless. He wasn't hurting her, but his embrace was tight and unrelenting. Squeezing her eyes shut, she sighed and let her head fall against his shoulder.

She didn't need his help, but in that moment, she could use his strength. Her arms rose to encircle his waist of their own accord. She blamed those damn hormones for the traitorous movement of her limbs. Something about the position felt so right… so familiar and so calming that she knew she had to break it soon… only she found that she couldn't.

The sound of a key turning the lock in the front door finally snapped her to attention. She pulled away from Clark's arms with a forceful tug and sent him a warning glare just as they heard the front door close.

"Hello?" They heard Chloe's voice call out as she walked further into the apartment. "Lois?"

Lois quickly moved the other side of the counter. Clark noted with slight regret that as she moved, she pasted a bright smile on her face. Their moment… if that was what it had been… was now gone.

"Chloe, hey! What are you doing back so soon? I thought the conference wasn't over until tonight." Lois grabbed her cousin in a tight hug as soon as she entered the kitchen.

Chloe glanced up at Clark who just shrugged in return. She was a bit surprised at Lois's warm reception. She was happy about it, but surprised nonetheless, as things had still been somewhat frosty between them the day before.

"It was boring, so I decided to leave early," Chloe lied. In truth, she had been worried about having Clark there since Lois had been rather explicit about how she felt last time. Chloe had been unable to concentrate at the conference and had argued at the airport to have her return ticket changed.

"Oh, well, that's too bad," Lois replied quickly. "But it's good to have you home. The best part is now you can take care of your company," she said, jerking a thumb in Clark's direction. "I've got to go… study. See ya."

Lois disappeared into the main living area and a few moments later, they heard the front door slam and lock. Chloe's brow wrinkled. Lois normally saw through her lies.

She turned to see Clark stooping to clean a small puddle of orange juice from the floor. Chloe leaned on the counter that separated them and smiled.

"Well, it's good to see that you survived Hurricane Lois," she chided. "And with no broken bones or anything!"

After a beat her expression turned sober. "I wanted to apologize to you, Clark. It really wasn't fair for me to drag you into this…"

Clark shook his head and stood, tossing the paper towels into the garbage canister under the sink. "You don't need to apologize, Chloe. Friends help each other." He reached out and drank the remaining juice in the glass before setting it in the sink. "I want to show you something."

Clark left the kitchen and returned with a small card in his hand.

Chloe accepted it from him and flipped it open. "What's this?" she asked, frowning.

"A peanut."

Chloe looked up from the card. "Huh?"

Clark shrugged. "Nothing… I mean, it's just a name we…"

Chloe's gaze returned to the card. "This is Lois's?" She didn't need to see him nod to know the answer.

With the tip of her finger, she traced the outline of the small white mass amid the black and white static of the ultrasound image. "She knows that you have this?"

"Uh, not really," Clark replied sheepishly. "I kind of snuck and got an extra copy from the doctor yesterday."

Chloe looked up, forcing the hurt out of her expression and voice. "You went to the doctor with her?"

Clark didn't notice the slight dimming of her smile as his grew brighter. "It was amazing, Chloe. I'd never seen anything like that before. Right there on the screen, I could see these little…"

Chloe returned her attention to the image in her hand as Clark continued to describe the experience he and Lois shared. Sitting through numerous workshops on areas of the journalism trade that she didn't find interesting had allowed her plenty of time to think about what was happening at home.

She was determined to help her cousin and itching to get to the bottom of the 'who is the daddy mystery', but Chloe knew from experience that she was going to have to give it some time. If she pushed, she risked Lois stonewalling her, something that she needed to avoid at all costs. Clark had proven twice now that he was able to reach Lois when she successfully kept everyone else at bay.

Chloe sighed and returned her attention to Clark. If he was the only one that Lois was going to let inside her wall, she would do everything in her power to encourage it.

At the same time, she couldn't help but feel left out.

* * *

**

* * *

TBC**

* * *


	6. FIVE

* * *

**FIVE**

**

* * *

**

* * *

"Jonathan, I think you should see this," Martha Kent called from the laundry room. 

Her husband finished wiping his hands on a towel and went to find her.

"What is it?"

Martha handed him a small card. "I found it in Clark's jacket."

Jonathan's brow creased as he studied the card.

When he didn't say anything, Martha threw up her hands in exasperation. "It's an ultrasound photo! What could he be doing with one of those?"

"Now, Honey…"

"He's been acting strange lately… Have you noticed how anxious he's been in the mornings? Then, he took off last weekend without even a word!"

Jonathan reached out for his wife's shoulder. "He's just growing up, Martha. We can trust him to make good decisions."

"I know, it's just…he's my son. I can't help but to worry. What do you think that photo is all about?" Martha asked, pointing to the card in Jonathan's hand. "You don't think that Lana…?"

Jonathan's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline. That was something he hadn't considered when he'd first looked at the photo. "But they haven't been together in months…"

Martha frowned. Unlike every time she had seen an ultrasound photo in the past, there was no patient name listed on the side of the image. Without that piece of information she couldn't help but assume...

"You're right. I'm just jumping to unwarranted conclusions." Martha released an anxious breath and eased the tension out of her face. Her calm was belied by the tapping action she was creating with her hand against her thigh. "Maybe we should just ask him about it."

Jonathan frowned in thought. "Or, maybe we should let him tell us on his own."

Martha studied her husband's face for a moment. Years of living together allowed her the ability to read his hidden expressions freely. "You're worried that this _is_ his," she observed knowingly.

"No…" he replied, scratching the back of his head. "Not entirely," he admitted. "But if Clark had something big like this going on… we'd have to trust that he would tell us. I just don't think we should corner him in the event that we're wrong."

Jonathan shrugged and wrapped his free arm around her shoulders. "I'm just doing my best to stay on the level, here. Usually that's your job."

Martha took the photo from him and studied it once again. With a grim smile, she figured that her maternal instinct was just on overdrive. Jonathan was right. It wouldn't help anyone to jump to conclusions.

* * *

Chloe glanced up from her laptop in interest as Lois's cell phone began to vibrate against the small butcher's block kitchen table. Across from her, Lois picked it up and read the identity of the caller. With a quirked brow she pressed the button to send the call directly to voicemail.

"Who was it?" Chloe asked lightly.

Lois replied to the question with a glare. Chloe knew good and well who it was.

Chloe hid a smirk as she returned her attention to typing her paper. "He's just going to keep calling until you answer," she advised.

"Eventually he'll get the message that I don't want to talk to him," Lois muttered, flipping open her phone and pressing the power button.

"Study break," Lois announced, yawning and stretching her neck by rotating her head. "I think I need a power nap."

As Lois closed her eyes while doing her neck exercises, Chloe looked on with growing unease. She had secretly been researching the symptoms of pregnancy, knowing that Lois would oppose any expression of concern on her behalf. Her cousin was stubbornly keeping any mention of her current circumstances out of public conversation.

Chloe knew that feeling fatigued was natural, but Lois's bouts of exhaustion seemed to come suddenly, and now, more increasingly.

"Are you feeling okay?" Chloe asked when Lois grimaced and gave a low grunt.

"Migraine," she muttered in reply, pushing her chair back from the table. "I'm going to get some water."

Lois stood and walked to the cabinet next to the refrigerator and pulled out a glass. Taking it over to the sink, she began to fill it with luke-warm tap water. She knew from experience that cold water would just make her head feel worse.

Both women jumped when Chloe's cell phone began chirping.

Lois shot Chloe a knowing look. "Don't answer that."

Chloe smirked and glanced at the phone's LCD screen. Shooting her cousin an apologetic smile, she flipped the phone open and pulled it to her ear. "Hey, Clark."

Lois glared and mouthed, "I'm not here."

"Uh… Everything's fine," Chloe replied. "She didn't answer? Each time, huh? Well… I'm sure it's…" Suddenly her brow creased and her eyes grew wide. Covering the phone's mouthpiece, she addressed Lois in a heated whisper. "Lois, you're bleeding."

Lois glanced down at her shirt and brought a hand up to her nose. Seeing the red substance on her fingers as she pulled her hand away, she sighed. "Damn. This was my favorite shirt."

Putting the glass of water on the cabinet, she exited the kitchen and headed for the bathroom.

Following Lois's retreat with her eyes, Chloe pulled the phone back to her ear. "Clark?"

_Knock. Knock. Knock. _

Frowning, Chloe walked out of the kitchen. "Clark, are you still there?" she queried into the phone as she reached to unlock the front door with her free hand.

Once she saw who her visitor was, she flipped the phone shut. "Well, there you are."

Chloe took a step to the side of the open door to allow Clark room to enter the apartment. "Hey."

Clark's eyes flicked around the room. "Where's Lois? I heard you say that she was bleeding."

With a creased brow, Chloe pointed down the hall. "She's in the bathroom. It was just a nosebleed."

Clark visibly relaxed. "Oh. I thought maybe it was something with the…" His voice faltered as he shrugged sheepishly.

"No, nothing like that," Chloe assured him. "She used to get nosebleeds like this all the time when we were kids."

Clark nodded and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Sorry."

Chloe was mildly amused that he had darted across the state because he was worried. Reaching out to shut the door, she noticed two large duffle bags outside on the stoop. "What's this?"

"That's actually what I was going to talk to you about when I called… I thought I'd stay for a while."

Chloe released a soft laugh as he went to pick up his bags. "Lois isn't going to want you here."

"I know. I wasn't planning on giving her a choice… That is, if it's okay with you." He remained on the stoop holding his bags as he waited for her answer.

"It doesn't bother me," she replied with a shrug. "What do you mean by 'a while?'"

"I'm not sure really," Clark answered as he re-entered the apartment. Setting his bags on the floor, he turned to face her. "Just until I am able to find a couple of roommates on campus I guess."

Chloe's eyes widened. "On campus? In Metropolis?"

Clark's affirming nod left her momentarily speechless. "I… Well… I mean… Okay."

"Are you talking to somebody out there, Chlo?" Lois called as she exited the bathroom holding her soiled shirt in her hand. She froze as she realized who was standing in the living room.

Clark flushed as he realized that Lois was standing in the hallway with just a bra covering her upper body and immediately refocused his eyes on hers. They silently engaged in a war of wills; Lois refused to be uncomfortable with her state of dress around an uninvited visitor in her home.

Chloe coughed at the awkward tension and spoke up. "Your nose stopped bleeding," she observed.

Lois nodded. "It stopped about a minute ago."

"Do you still have a migraine?" Chloe asked, warily stepping into the space that separated her cousin from Clark. She didn't know what Lois's impending reaction was going to be to having him there, but it most likely wasn't going to be a warm welcome. She had been doing a pretty good job of avoiding his calls.

Lois pulled her gaze away from Clark's and returned her attention to Chloe. "No, I think the loss of blood relieved some of the pressure off my brain… although I have a hunch that it's about to come back. Chloe, why does he have bags?"

Chloe bit her lower lip and glanced over her shoulder at Clark. "Uh…"

Lois interrupted with a scoff and a raised hand. "No. Let's do this tomorrow." She fixed Clark with a glare. "I'm assuming he'll still be here."

Without waiting for a reply from either party, Lois turned and entered her room. When the door clicked shut behind her, Chloe walked to the futon and sat down. "I can't believe your parents are okay with this."

"My parents," Clark sighed, sinking to sit next to her. "I don't think _okay_ is the right word."

* * *

The door in the kitchen slapped shut with a bang.

"Mom? Dad?" Clark called out.

Clark turned as his parents entered the kitchen.

"Is everything okay, Son?"

Clark's gaze met his father's hesitantly. "Sure… well, kind of."

Martha slowly took in a breath and leaned against the counter. "Is there something you want to tell us?"

Clark's brow creased slightly as he looked at his mother. It was uncanny how she always knew what he was thinking and feeling. He wanted to tell his parents everything, but he had made a promise not to.

"I have decided to leave Smallville for a while."

Martha's eyebrows shot up. "What?"

"Why?" Jonathan demanded.

"I have a friend who needs some help." Before his parents could protest, he continued. "I'll still come home to do my chores, but I plan on staying with friends."

"Who is this friend, Clark?"

Clark faced his mother. "I can't say."

Jonathan grunted. "You can't expect us to take that little bit of information you just threw out and let you run off to live in God-Knows-Where."

Jonathan was aware that Clark was an adult, but he was having a hard time believing in his son's sanity with these new decisions. "What about your classes? Are we supposed to believe that you are going to run home for chores _and_ classes?"

"No. I'm going to start with some online classes…" Clark knew that revealing too much of the truth on this area of his plans could only put him in deeper water, so he tried a different angle. "You guys taught me that there's nothing more important than helping someone in need. You have to believe me when I say that _this_ is really important." He turned pleading eyes to his mother. "This is something that I need to do."

"Sweetie, this friend of yours…" Martha began.

"Mom," Clark interrupted, silently praying that she wouldn't ask a question he couldn't answer.

Torn, Martha glanced at her husband. They had agreed to trust Clark, but the announcement that he was making a drastic change to his life had added a new dimension to the issue.

"Clark… This problem that you're helping out with… Did you in any way have a part in creating it?"

Clark paled in shock. His mother couldn't know what her question implied. "No." He shook his head. "No," he repeated with a small laugh. "That's impossible."

Martha glanced at Jonathan again. Both were silently relieved at his answer.

"This is not really a laughing matter, Son," Jonathan interjected.

"I know," Clark relented, sobering.

Jonathan sighed. "These are some pretty hefty issues that you are laying on the table, and you're asking us to not get involved. I don't think we can do that."

"Not unless you can give us more information so that we can support your decision, Clark," Martha offered. "Because as it stands, transferring in the middle of a semester, leaving home with no forwarding address, taking care of a nameless friend who needs help with some problem that has nothing to do with you… I have to say no. You're not going anywhere."

Clark pressed his lips together grimly. "Well, then, I'm sorry."

The elder Kents followed when Clark walked out of the kitchen and through the den to the front door. To their surprise, two large duffle bags were sitting there.

"Clark!" Martha exclaimed as he picked them up.

"As soon as I can… I'll tell you everything. I promise." Clark opened the door and stepped outside.

"Now, you wait a min…" Jonathan began, rushing to the door. But by the time he got there, Clark was already gone.

* * *

"And you just left?" Chloe asked incredulously, keeping her voice low so their conversation wouldn't be heard by Lois.

Clark nodded. "I stopped in the field and tried to call you guys… and then I came."

Chloe's eyebrows darted up. "Wow, Clark. I mean, I hate to think what she would have done if she found out that your parents knew, but not telling them anything and then leaving like that? They're going to think you're on drugs."

"Sometimes I feel like I am."

Chloe frowned at his answer. "What do you mean?"

"I've never done something like that and felt so right about it." He met Chloe's gaze. "Each time I left home before it was because I was on Red Kryptonite. That stuff makes me lose all control and I can't think straight. But this time it's different. I feel like I'm supposed to be here."

Chloe nodded, unsure of how to respond to his explanation. Since learning about his powers, Chloe had always felt that Clark would eventually outgrow the simple life of farming, and Metropolis was definitely a great place to start looking if you were searching for yourself.

"Well, I guess that extra key was for you anyhow," Chloe quipped, trying to change the mood with a light comment.

"Thanks, Chloe. Have things gotten any better around here?"

"A little, but Lois is still keeping things locked up tighter than Fort Knox. I tried bringing up her father the other day, and let's just say that I'm glad she doesn't have your heat vision."

"When is she planning on telling him?"

Chloe let out a dry chuckle. "Lois telling her father? Probably two weeks before Hell freezes over."

Seeing Clark's doubtful expression Chloe knew he was thinking that Lois would have a hard time keeping her situation from the 3-star general.

"Lucy learned all of her tricks for staying under The General's radar from Lois. Believe me, if she doesn't want him to know, he won't find out."

"But don't you think that maybe we should…"

"No!" Chloe exclaimed. Her eyes darted toward Lois's closed door and she quieted herself. "If Lois even thinks I would… Clark she would leave."

"Chloe, she wouldn't…"

"Yes." Chloe's eyes bore into his. "She would. As much as I hate it, this whole thing has to be her call. If her dad came into the picture now, the whole party and after-party thing would come out and I don't think she's ready to deal with any of that."

Clark's brow creased. "That doesn't make it go away."

Chloe looked down at her restless hands sadly. "That's what I told her." Her gaze returned to his. "She told you that she thought she thought she had been drugged, right?"

At his nod, she continued. "Well, earlier this week, I tried to get her to retrace her steps so I could cross reference the frat parties… you know, see if anyone remembered seeing her on Central K's campus… It didn't go so well."

"She couldn't remember anything?"

Chloe shook her head. "It's the opposite actually." She released a wry smile at Clark's befuddled expression. "She doesn't remember _everything_… but she's sure it wasn't drugs… And she told me to drop it. Forcefully."

Clark frowned. "How can she be sure about that unless she remembers…" His eyes grew wide. "She knows who it was?"

Chloe shrugged. "That's the point when she told me to drop it."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, each lost in thoughts about the young woman in the room down the hall.

Clark wondered what this latest bit of information meant. Lois was suddenly convinced that she hadn't been the victim of the date rape drug, but he wondered if she was truly sure about that… or if she was erecting another wall of protection around herself so she wouldn't be seen as a victim.

He reached to massage the bridge of his nose. Trying to figure out where Lois's head was at would not be easy. In fact, everything about this situation was hard.

"How are you holding up?"

Chloe looked up with a start at his soft query. "Me?"

Clark laughed softly. "Yeah. We haven't really talked since last weekend and I remember us making it a priority not to lose contact again."

She laughed and leaned back into the futon. "Well, I've been fine I guess."

"I never asked you about that conference you went to. Did you have fun?"

Chloe sighed. "To tell you the truth, I was happy to leave early. It's not what I want anymore. Journalism."

Clark remained quiet, realizing that there was more to Chloe's explanation.

"Have you ever worked so hard, and spent so much time trying to get something, only to finally get it and realize that you don't want it after all?" she asked.

Chloe turned to him with a confused expression when he began laughing. "Oh," she said, realizing what he was thinking. "Lana. I guess you have."

They exchanged bemused glances. Clark had trailed and even obsessed after girl-next-door Lana Lang for more years than was healthy. By the time the angst and yearning had finally been quenched with them getting together, the spell had past. Their short and tumultuous relationship had made them, and everyone around them, awkward and uncomfortable.

"I have a theory about it," Chloe announced thoughtfully. "It's the problem with longing for something. It changes your perception and you began to see things in an impossible light. By the time your reality catches up to your dreams, your dreams have sped off again. But you end up thinking you have to settle for whatever it is that you've got because you spent so long trying to get there. Does that make any sense?"

Clark nodded. It actually did. At that moment, it made all the sense in the world.

"This has been my dream forever, Clark. Going to Met U's school of Journalism. Getting a coveted internship at the Daily Planet. Winning that Pulitzer… Everything that I've done up to this point in my life has been part of that track. Last weekend, I sat in the third row of this huge conference center, listening to world-renowned journalists talk about the tricks of the trade, and it hit me. I didn't care."

"But Chloe, you've always been the one who wanted to get to the bottom of any mystery."

"That's the thing, Clark. I want the answers, but I don't want the process of getting them. If it's not something that I can get on my computer with a few clicks of a button, then it's not worth my time. I don't want to be some reporter who has to fill a space and a deadline, and I don't want to be told what to write or what not to write. But I'm not saying that all my work so far has been in vain. Actually, I think that it has helped me hone into what it is that I really want to do."

Clark studied his best friend's profile. For as long as he'd known her, she had been chasing down a mystery of some sort, usually seeking answers about a meteor freak. "And what's that?"

"Justice… and truth."

Clark frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"When I found out about your powers, I realized that not everything was as black and white as I tried to make it. Those meteor showers changed everything. They changed the way we live, they changed people, and they changed the way we look at one another. I was always so busy focusing on what people could do, that I never stopped to think about the people themselves. Most of the time _they_ are the victims, and they shouldn't be exploited. I want to find them and help them live."

"Using your sleuthing powers for good instead of evil, eh?" Clark teased.

"Something like that," she returned with a soft laugh.

Chloe's thoughts turned to the article she had proposed to her Journalism teacher that week. One of the most exclusive and ancient sororities on campus had always been the subject of Met U urban legends. It seemed that the parties that the sisterhood threw involved drinking more than Heineken. In fact, rumor had it that the reason the girls in this blood-thirsty group shied away from the sunlight had nothing to do with next day hangovers.

Finding the truth in a story like that was more Chloe's speed than researching the ring around the collar of some white-haired executive. The latter, unfortunately, was what Chloe's professor had encouraged her to do, saying that her only possible future - if she wrote the stuff that she wanted to - was in tabloids.

She wanted the freedom to go after the stories that mattered to her. And she wanted the freedom to write what she knew was the truth. Even if the world wasn't ready for it.

One day, it would be. And in the meantime, she would be true to herself.

"I want to write books," she confessed out loud for the first time. There was a certain level of relief that came with finally coming to terms that being an Ace Reporter was not in the cards for her.

Clark rubbed his jaw. This was certainly a change from the Chloe he'd always seen her as. "It's hard to imagine you without a press pass and a desk at the Daily Planet. You not being the world's greatest reporter… that's like… throwing the cosmos out of line or something."

Chloe laughed at his mocked seriousness. "Well, I believe that the cosmos always find a way to right themselves, so don't worry."

* * *

**

* * *

TBC**

* * *


	7. SIX

**

* * *

SIX

* * *

**

* * *

Lois paused to straighten her clothes in front of the mirror hanging on the back of her bedroom door. Placing her hands on her lower back, she looked at her flat stomach in the reflection. It still amazed her to think that there was really a little someone growing inside of her. It was surreal. It was unbelievable. 

But it was real.

Lois smirked at her mirror image and flipped her hair back over her shoulders. She felt a certain amount of relief that she no longer had the need to avoid looking herself in the eye. Since she had told Chloe that she no longer believed that she'd been drugged, the disturbing dreams had stopped. It was as if her subconscious was satisfied that she was ready to accept responsibility for her part in the act that had put her in this… delicate position.

Rolling her eyes, Lois opened the door and left the room. She hated it when her subconscious and her reflection ganged up on her.

She walked down the hallway and into the kitchen. Passing the living room as she went, she noticed the stack of Clark's shirts and pants draped over the back of the futon. Chloe had cleared out the hall coat closet for him so he could hang up his clothes, but it was obvious that he still needed more room for them. A fleeting thought crossed her mind as to how he had been able to fit that much clothing into the two duffle bags he'd brought with him. It was almost as if his wardrobe was expanding on a daily basis.

Walking into the kitchen, Lois spotted Clark standing at the sink washing out the blender.

"Shouldn't you be sleeping in? You know you're not on the farm anymore, right?"

Clark turned to face her with a grin. "Not everyone has the pleasure of scheduling no classes on Fridays. Chloe left over two hours ago."

"You don't even have real classes, Clark. I'll never understand why you get up at the crack of dawn to work on an internet class when you can do that anytime you want."

Clark shrugged. He couldn't really tell her why he got up so early. Doing his chores on the farm in the mornings before his parents got up was a way to avoid the questions that would inevitably arise the next time they were all face to face again.

"Discipline," he offered, leaning back against the counter and crossing his arms.

"More like anal retention, if you ask me," Lois retorted. She picked up the tall cup filled with a smoothie mixture from the counter and began to sip through the straw.

Despite Lois's loud objections to the added roommate, the three of them had fallen into a semi-comfortable routine over the past few weeks. For the most part, they were rarely all home at the same time, especially since both Lois and Chloe were splitting their days between classes and part-time jobs.

"Where did you get this recipe anyway?" Lois asked, tilting the cup so she could peer inside. She was reluctant to admit that Clark's concoction for aiding her morning sickness was actually working. Even her daily headaches had stopped.

"The internet," Clark replied with a grin.

"Figures." Shaking her head, Lois drank more of the smoothie. "Well, you and your laptop have a good day."

She turned and headed out of the kitchen with the cup in her hand. As she walked toward the front door, she once again passed the futon. Lois may not have kept the cleanest room but she had always liked the public areas of the apartment to be neat. Her hands itched to pull Clark's clothes off of the futon, but she resisted. Instead, she grabbed her bag from the table next to the door and stepped outside.

* * *

Lois idly flipped through a home gardening magazine. She really didn't care about the latest advances in home fertilizer treatments, but it beat looking through the other magazines that littered the Clinic's waiting room. Reading about potty training and separation anxiety for preschoolers was just too damn scary. 

She glanced up when someone sat in the seat next to her.

"How did you…?" She scoffed and flipped the magazine shut. "Did you follow me again?"

"No. I was here when you made the appointment, remember?" Clark took the magazine from her and glanced at the title with a frown.

Lois ignored his look. "Yes. _I_ made an appointment… Why are _you_ here?"

"I had a break between classes," he answered with a grin. "And I was kind of hoping that you'd let me come."

Lois rolled her eyes, snatched her magazine back and flipped it open. "Well, I guess if you'll barge into my apartment I shouldn't be surprised that you'll barge into other places unwanted as well," she muttered under her breath.

"Speaking of that, you've been uncharacteristically calm about this whole roommate thing, Lois. Why haven't you tried to kick me out?"

Lois remained quiet for a moment, looking at a picture of a family in front of a large log cabin retreat. She didn't really want to answer his question. "I want to thank you."

"For what?"

"For being there for Chloe. I'm not really doing a great job of being the big sister here…" She sighed, guilt once again taking its place on her shoulders. "She could use a friend right now. So, thank you."

Clark looked down at the picture in her lap that held the focus of her gaze. "What about you?"

"What about me?" Lois asked, lifting her eyes to look at him.

"Could you use a friend?"

Lois prepared to retort with a snide comment, but hesitated.

They had different styles, that was a given. Lois had run off to pull Lucy out of sticky situations enough times to know that she couldn't help anyone unless they _wanted_ to be helped. Her experiences had led her to believe that the best she could do for someone she cared about was to give them their space and be available when they finally came to their senses.

Clark, on the other hand, was the type to latch himself onto the person, always turning up in shadows and underfoot; taking over and jumping in the way whenever he felt the need. He was annoying, overzealous, and often wrong about who needed the actual protection. But overall, he was consistent.

There was once a time when they wouldn't openly admit that they were friends. Neither could deny that there had always been an undercurrent of companionship to their interactions since the fateful thunder-induced first meeting in the cornfields beside Route 45.

She couldn't dismiss the undeniable sense of relief she'd felt earlier when she had looked up to find Clark there. As much as his dogged persistence bothered her, her current circumstance was the exception. Eventually, she would need to do this alone, but right now, sitting in a room made up of stark white walls and linoleum floors… maybe it was time that she was willing to lean just a little. He'd already proven that he could handle the weight.

"Lois, do you guys want to come on back?" a nurse called from the door to the hallway that led to the clinic's examination rooms.

Lois looked up and smiled at Sandy, the nurse, and stood to her feet in preparation to follow. Turning back to Clark, she held out her hand and answered both questions at once. "Yes. Let's go."

* * *

"Um, Clark, could you give me a minute?" Lois asked, hopping onto the examination table. 

"Sure," Clark responded, closing the door and leaving Lois alone with Sandy.

Sandy looked at her with interest. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes. It's fine… I just, uh… I wanted to clear something up." Lois blew at her bangs and smoothed the front of her shirt down. "He's not the father."

"Oh," Sandy replied lightly. She and the other members of the staff had called that one wrong.

"I just thought that when we came in last time, we may have given the impression that… you know," Lois babbled. "And I figured that it would be easier if we got that out in the open earlier rather than later. I have all these scenarios running through my head about how awkward it would be later on if… well, anyway."

Sandy nodded with a smile. "I understand completely. He seems like a nice guy though. I think you're in good hands."

"Clark and I are just friends," Lois interjected.

"That's all I meant." The nurse bit back a smile as she eyed Lois's chart. "So, you know the drill, I'm going to ask you a few questions for your file, take your blood pressure, and get a urine sample, and then Dr. Hagen will be in to do the ultrasound. Do you want me to bring Clark back in here?"

Lois ran a hand through her hair and fidgeted on the table. She had no idea why doctor's offices always made her jumpy. "Please."

* * *

"Hello, Chloe." 

Chloe looked up from her notes with a slight frown. "Lex. Hi." She glanced around the Student Center trying to figure out what would have brought the boy billionaire to Met U's campus. Although his age matched the crowd, his Armani suit and Egyptian silk tie made him stand out.

Lex observed her questioning expression and laughed, pushing the tails of his expensive suit coat to the side so he could slide his hands into his pockets. "I was asked to speak to a group of Poli Sci students earlier today. I was told that this was the best place to find a cup of coffee on campus… Seeing you here confirms it."

Chloe's brow furrowed. "Poli Sci?" she repeated.

He nodded. "I've been seriously considering throwing together a campaign for the Senatorial seat since it opened up with Senator Jennings's recent resignation."

"Oh?" Chloe asked in surprise. She wasn't a Political Science student, but she had a feeling that someone didn't just 'throw together' a campaign… especially not a serious one.

"You don't sound convinced. Does that mean I don't have your vote?"

Chloe smiled when she realized that he was teasing her. "I can't say yet. I consider myself to be an educated voter. I'd need to see where you stand."

"True enough." Lex pulled the other chair away from the table so he could sit down.

While a little surprised that he was getting comfortable at her table, Chloe felt better that he was no longer standing over her. With him sitting, she wouldn't have to arch her neck to talk to him.

"Do you not see me as the Senator type?" Lex asked with genuine interest.

Chloe started to reply but decided that tact was in order. "What did the class say?"

Lex smiled, conscious of her avoidance. "They were really quite polite about it. I've got a class load of promissory votes, and Professor West was quite complimentary… perhaps overly complimentary," he finished wryly. "I was just hoping for an unbiased and honest impression from someone who's not intimidated by my money or position."

Chloe smirked. "Well, then… honestly, your motivation would concern me."

"How so?"

"Just, how does becoming Senator of the Sunflower State fit into the whole Lex Luthor grand scheme? Is it just a stepping stone to something else, or is it more of a power trip in the making?"

"I never really saw myself as being on a power trip…"

She smiled that he didn't seem to be offended by her tone of questioning. "So a stepping stone, then. Where does this stairway lead?"

Lex paused in thought. "I'm not sure. I guess I'm just content to take it one step at a time."

"Okay, I think we've beat the whole 'stepping stone' analogy to death," Chloe said laughing. "Why do you want to be a senator? You just got control over LuthorCorp from your father. I would think that you have enough to deal with right now without adding the ratification of national treaties to your plate."

"My father has left a scar on every person and every thing that he has come in contact with throughout his whole life. He made LuthorCorp into the multi-billion dollar enterprise that it is, but the corpses that he has left along the way seem to take all of the joy out of it. It takes a cut-throat business genius to do what he did… but I want more."

Lex sighed and drummed his fingers against the table. "There have been many times when I have wished that I hadn't been born with the silver spoon lodged in my throat… but I've come to realize that you can't chose the skin you're fated with… or the parents. Lionel Luthor may not give a damn about using his power to help the people around him, but I do. I intend to create my own path… not follow the one my father paved."

Chloe was taken aback with the honesty and seriousness of his answer. She wasn't sure if a weighted response was due. "Wow."

Lex blinked and looked at her curiously. "What?"

"I think this is actually the first time we've had a real conversation without one of us seeking an angle."

Lex smiled. "I think you're right." Even when they had worked together to aid the prosecution of his father, they hadn't spent time in general conversation. Lex had been determined to keep her safe, but for that to happen, he mostly had to stay out of the way.

"It's nice to have a conversation where someone is willing to challenge me now and then."

Chloe's eyebrows rose and she drained the remnants of her coffee. "I suppose that you don't get much of a challenge being surrounded by yes-men and blind supporters."

Lex nodded, patting his chest. "Touché. Although I have tried to bring those on board that would keep me honest, it seems that stability and comfort make people less apt to go against the tide."

"Well, I guess I can see how that could happen, but recently I have personally come to the conclusion that it's not really living if you can't live free enough to speak the truth."

"That's refreshing. I'll have to keep that in mind." Lex studied her for a few seconds before sliding his chair away from the table. "I suppose that if I came for coffee, I should place an order."

Standing, he loosened the knot on his tie. "Would you like another?"

Chloe glanced at her empty mug and back up at him. "Actually, I would. Thank you."

* * *

"That's amazing," Clark muttered in fascination. He didn't think he had ever heard a sound more beautiful. 

Lois gasped softly. "It sounds so fast… Is it supposed to be that fast?"

Dr. Hagan smiled at the young woman and nodded. "It's perfect. The fetal heartbeat is always much faster than an adult's; usually somewhere between 120 and 180 beats per minute."

She paused to make a notation onto the chart, not missing when Lois's hand snaked out to grab hold of Clark's as he moved to stand beside the table.

Sandy had told her about the little bit of information that Lois had revealed earlier in clarification of their relationship, but the doctor wasn't so easily convinced. One of the skills of being a doctor was that of observation. A lot of times, expressions and interactions told you a lot more about a person's condition than their words could.

"We have some pamphlets that I'd like to send home with you." The doctor brushed a few strands of blonde hair from her forehead. "They cover the basic topics: nutrition and diet, weight gain, child birthing classes, prenatal vitamins, and some other interesting stuff. Sandy will put together your packet for you before you leave."

Dr. Hagan reached to adjust a few dials on the Doppler machine to get another reading of the heartbeat as Lois continued to watch the monitor in awe.

"Do you have any more questions for me?"

Lois hesitated to respond. "I don't… feel pregnant," she finally admitted.

The comment caused Clark to pull his attention away from the monitor. He looked at Lois in surprise.

Feeling his eyes on her, Lois kept looking at her doctor. "I mean, I feel different but…" She shrugged and placed a hand against the side of her bare abdomen. "I see the monitor and then I look at my stomach and I haven't started showing… I don't feel anything moving… and to top it off, I think I've gained maybe a pound, that's it."

Dr. Hagan smiled. "That's a normal feeling, Lois. You're not showing yet, and your baby is still extremely tiny. In fact, with your build you might not start showing for quite a while, but even that is nothing to worry about. The truth is, every pregnancy is unique, and with your level of exercise and activity, your weight may not fluctuate until much later on." She glanced down at the chart again. "Are you still running 5 miles a day?"

"Yes, is that not good? Because I don't have to. I've been looking for a good excuse to slack off anyway…"

"No, nothing like that," the older woman interrupted with a chuckle, placing a calming hand on Lois's shoulder. "I think that it's an excellent idea for you to keep up the routine. Just don't push yourself if you feel tired. Listen to your body and make sure you contact us if you have any unusual pain."

Lois released a sigh of relief and nodded. "I will, thank you."

Dr. Hagan smiled and walked toward the door. "Speaking of exercises, the ones that I recommend you do as often as possible are kegels."

Lois frowned. "Kegels?" That wasn't the name of anything she had been taught by her father's drill instructors. "How do I do those?"

"There will be some literature on them in one of the pamphlets, but basically you just contract your muscles as if trying to stop the flow of urine, hold it for a count of five, and then relax. I tell everyone I know to do these, pregnant or not, man or woman. They do wonders for orgasms," she finished nonchalantly, opening the door and stepping outside. "Sandy will be right in."

Looking at her companion, all of Lois's embarrassment over the doctor's last statement dissolved. Clark looked as if he were standing frozen in the path of an oncoming train. His flushed face and wide eyed expression made her laugh.

Squeezing the hand she still held, she winked at him. "Don't worry; you don't have to do those with me."

Clark swallowed and forced a smile in response.

* * *

"I can't believe you left it like that!" 

Clark glared at her as they walked down the sidewalk toward The Planet. Lois had decided to walk to work from the clinic rather than trying to hunt down another parking spot. Her position didn't rank a spot in the building's garage.

"Would you rather that I'd have told them the truth?"

Lois stopped and faced him. "Of course not! I just thought you would have come up with a better lie."

"I _didn't_ lie," he corrected.

"Well, then, I thought you would have come up with a lie, period." She turned away from him and continued walking.

Clark had just revealed to her that he hadn't left his parents on the best terms. He'd been living in Metropolis for three weeks without his parents knowing where he was, or condoning his absence.

"You left without an explanation, Kent. Now, when they do find out… Argh!" She threw up her hands in frustration. She already had enough guilt concerning Clark's parents with the way _she_ had left Smallville. Clark's distance from his parents because he was helping her only added to her burden.

"I don't understand." Clark couldn't fathom why she was getting so worked up over this.

"No." Lois looked at him as if he were clueless. "You don't." She knew that his parents were going to be even more disappointed in her when they learned that she had dragged their saint of a son into her problems.

"When you leave people without proper goodbyes it leaves too much room for misunderstandings and hurt," she explained heatedly. "You just don't do it that way. Especially not with parents."

"Really?" Clark's pace slowed as he processed her words. It surprised him that she would say something like that to him when she wouldn't even talk to her own father. "So tell me, how would you know? I mean, look at your relationship with your father. You don't even speak truthfully when you're around each other. You are just content to allow him to believe the stories of a happy fairy tale life for you and Lucy…"

Lois stopped abruptly and spun to face him, causing him to stumble as they almost collided.

"Exactly, Smallville. Look at my relationship with my father. It's not what you want to have with your parents. I know what I'm talking about."

Clark softened, wondering how they had gone from the quiet companionship in the doctor's office to this intense exchange so quickly. "I don't want to argue, Lois. I just think you should come, too."

It had all started when Clark had invited her and Chloe to return to Smallville that weekend with him for Jonathan's birthday dinner. Jokingly, he had brought up the fact that it would be the first time in three weeks that they would come face-to-face, and Lois had pounced on his slip.

"I can't," she replied softly, also calming a little. She hated that he would have to face his parents and continue to lie by omission about what he was doing, but she wasn't ready for the revelation to his parental unit or to her own. Lois might not have been showing yet, but she was afraid that Martha would be able to take one look at her and know everything. "Not yet."

Clark sighed and reached out to pull open the front door to the Daily Planet building for her. "Okay."

Flashing him a grim smile, she stepped past him and headed in to work.

* * *

"Here." 

Chloe took the box Lois was handing her and cocked her head to the side. "What is this?"

Lois plopped down on the futon beside her cousin. "Take a look."

The two women were home alone together for the first time in weeks. Clark had already left for Smallville and Lois had just returned home from work.

Chloe pulled the top off of the box and looked inside. Setting the top aside, she reached in and pulled out a book.

_Baby's First Book_ was scrawled across the yellow cover in bright swirled letters. Cute baby animals paraded around the borders in a single-file line.

Lois watched as Chloe traced the image of an alphabet block with her index finger. "I know I've been a little incommunicado about this whole thing, but it's been a little hard for me to wrap my head around it all."

Chloe opened the cover and looked at the image of a tree. Blank lines extended on all sides, waiting for the names of the child and family members to be entered. Two names were already listed on a couple of lines in Lois's neat script: mother and god-mother.

"Lois…"

"I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I didn't want you involved. I just hated to think of the time when you'd stop looking up to me."

Chloe grinned and reached for her hand. "I'll always look up to you, Lois. You're taller than me."

Lois laughed and shook her head. "There's more, keep going."

Chloe turned a few pages and came to one dedicated to 'Baby's First Photo.' The first ultrasound image was tucked into the little edge holders. Chloe recognized the photo but knew that Lois would expect her to never have seen it.

"It this…?" Chloe began, leaning closer to the page.

"Yeah," Lois replied, tilting her head to take a closer look as well. "The baby is…" She squinted and frowned at the static. "Damn, I lost it again."

Chloe giggled and pointed to a small area. "There, right?"

"Yes." Lois sighed and leaned back against the futon with a groan.

Chloe turned in concern. "What is it?"

"I can't even find a baby on a photo. I suck at this mother stuff," Lois replied sarcastically.

"Lois, I don't think that ultrasound readings are a pre-requisite for motherhood. You'll be great."

"It's not just the ultrasound, Chloe. My track record isn't so great in the raising kids area. Just look at how Lucy turned out."

Chloe frowned. "You didn't raise Lucy."

"At least not very well," Lois muttered.

"No, Lois." Chloe gently closed the book and set it to the side. "Raising Lucy was not your job. You've been trying to protect her since you were six and she was two. At some point you're going to have to stop trying to take responsibility for every one's life… and that includes mine. I look up to you because you are strong, independent, loyal to a fault, bold… vulnerable at times, and a fighter. And I love you because you're you. Nothing changes that. Not even this."

Lois wasn't ready to concede to Chloe's point just yet but she didn't like wallowing in pity parties so she changed the subject.

"I kind of bit your head off when you wanted to talk about how all of this happened…" Lois began, getting a laugh from Chloe. "I just want you to know that I'm not ready to dig yet, but when I am… you'll be the first to know."

"Fair enough," Chloe responded. She ran a hand over the cover of the baby book and smiled. "Thank you."

Lois nodded. "So, I had another appointment today… Have you ever heard of kegels?"

* * *

Lois took a final glance in her closet before sliding the door closed. She had finally given in to the urge to clean up the living room. When she had appeared with her bandana and rubber gloves in place, Chloe had made a mad dash for her bedroom. She knew that when Lois got in the mood to clean, nothing and no one was spared. 

The last time Chloe had tried to help, Lois had ended up taking Chloe's clothes to the Laundromat… The problem was, they were the clothes she had been wearing at the time.

After vacuuming, dusting and wiping down every inch of public space in the apartment, Lois had eyed Clark's stack of clothes with disdain. Shaking her head, she had grabbed them and begrudgingly made room for them in her closet.

Feeling a twinge of hunger, Lois headed for the kitchen to make a snack before it turned to nausea.

* * *

**TBC

* * *

**


	8. SEVEN

**

* * *

SEVEN

* * *

**

* * *

"Ohh. Week 15," Chloe remarked, looking at her day planner. She had started plotting Lois's pregnancy and symptoms in secret. She was keeping her log private because she knew that Lois wouldn't be thrilled to see the dates marked off on the calendar that was hanging on the fridge. 

Lois entered the kitchen dragging her feet.

"Morning, Lois."

Lois growled in reply and continued on to the refrigerator. Chloe gave Clark a warning glance when he entered a few moments later. Lois hadn't been this grumpy in weeks.

"Good Morning, Chloe," he said. Turning to where Lois was pulling her vitamin containers out of the cabinet, he greeted her too. "Good Morning, Lois."

"Shut up," she responded curtly, reaching to brush her bangs off of her forehead.

Chloe made an up and down waving motion with her hand to pantomime a rollercoaster. When Lois spun around and looked at her with narrowed eyes, Chloe smiled and pretended to be stretching her fingers. "Been doing a lot of typing lately," she explained meekly.

"That's my shirt," Clark pointed out, noticing Lois's choice of apparel.

"It was in my closet."

Clark shared an amused look with Chloe.

Lois caught their exchange and rolled her eyes, washing down a green pill with a gulp of milk. "Possession is nine tenths of the law."

Seeing her in his shirt stirred something inside Clark. A grin appeared on his face and he crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, yeah? So what's got you possessed this morning?"

Lois glared at him and set her glass on the counter. "You want your shirt back?" she asked reaching for the top button of the red and gold flannel garment.

Chloe choked on her glass of juice and held up a hand. "Whoa! Okay, aaaand scene."

Lois smirked and stalked past Clark out of the kitchen.

Seeing Clark's faraway look as he watched Lois leave, Chloe cleared her throat. "Hey."

Clark blinked and turned back to her.

"Are you flirting with my cousin?"

Clark's eyes widened in surprise. "No," he answered, but the lilt in his voice made it come out more like a question.

"What's going on, Clark?"

"Mood swings?"

Chloe shot him a look. "No, I know what's going on with Lois. I'm talking about you."

After Clark had returned from Smallville after attending his father's birthday dinner, he and Lois had immediately started to argue about anything that they could find to disagree about. Chloe was now beginning to wonder if it was just their way of reconnecting. Over the past few weeks, Clark had been hovering over Lois with pamphlets left and right, packing her bag with fruit before she left in the mornings, and accompanying her daily runs. To Chloe's surprise, Lois seemed to be putting up with it.

Clark took a deep breath and smiled. "Nothing's going on."

Chloe tilted her head to the side. "Clark."

He ran a hand through his hair and shrugged. "She's wearing my shirt," he replied in a semi-whining tone.

"Oh, no," Chloe sighed. This really wasn't the time for Clark to be 'catching feelings.' "Clark, you can't be doing this now."

Clark's eyes darted to the doorway and back as if he were afraid that Lois would hear them. "I'm not doing anything!" At her look, he sighed again. "I don't know what happened."

"Are these Protect and Serve feelings that you're having?"

Clark looked at her woefully. "I've been having these dreams..."

Chloe frowned when he didn't go further. "What kind of dreams?"

"Of me and Lois… with a baby." After a pause, he continued. "There's this one where we are at the farm and having a picnic in the fields. Her hair is wind-blown and she's chasing the baby toward me where I'm waiting on the blanket. It's a little boy."

Chloe's heart churned in her chest. It sounded like Clark feelings were more along the lines of _to Have and to Hold_. "Clark… I don't want you to get hurt."

"Chloe, I know that you're protective of me, but you don't have to be. I can handle this."

"I don't know. Maybe living here isn't the best situation…"

"No. I promised to be here to help Lois with this, and I won't let anything get in the way of that. If I were to leave now, what do you think would happen? What do you think Lois would think?"

Chloe sighed. She knew he was right. Lois had finally come to terms with him being there and had gotten to the point where she was comfortable letting both he and Chloe in. If Clark suddenly left, it was possible that all of their progress would be lost.

"What if Lois doesn't feel the same way?" Chloe asked sadly.

"What if Lois doesn't feel the same about what?" Lois looked from her cousin to Clark with a questioning expression as she entered the kitchen wearing her own clothes. Her demeanor seemed to have improved immensely. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Lex," Chloe answered, surprising both of her roommates. "I was telling Clark that Lex offered me a job."

"But…y-you already have a job," Clark stammered.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Sure, editing pet obituaries helps to pay the rent, but its does nothing for my future career endeavors…" She quickly turned to address Lois. "...Not that I'm ungrateful for you helping me get a step up from the InfoLine job, or anything like that."

Lois shrugged. "No offense taken. So what is this job that the CEO of LuthorCorp needs your vast lack of professional experience for?" she teased.

Chloe smiled. "Lex is disbanding a number of projects that his father was using company resources for and he believes that my research abilities would be helpful."

Behind Lois, Clark was sending Chloe pained looks. He couldn't believe that she was contemplating getting involved with Lex when they had both worked so hard to steer him away from Clark's secret.

Lois seemed to sense something going on behind her and turned around, arching an eyebrow at Clark's expression. She faced back to Chloe. "So you're finally ready to kick the bucket on the whole Woodard-sans-Bernstein farce, eh?"

Chloe looked at Clark in surprise, who in turn shrugged. "I didn't say anything."

Chloe returned her focus to her cousin. "You knew I didn't want to be a reporter anymore?"

Laughing, Lois nodded. "Every since you converted your wall of bizarre to your laptop's hard drive, I knew that the daily news grind would not be on your avenue for long."

"Wall-of-weird," Chloe corrected.

Lois waved a dismissing hand. "I know."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

"Well, there was always the chance that I was wrong, and who am I to put a silver bullet in your dream?"

"But why Lex, Chloe?" Clark entered.

Lois smacked him in the chest. "Bullet. Dream. Remember?" she muttered. "Chloe, you know you need to be careful with this, right? I know that the King of the Trust Fund Kids likes to give gifts and all, but nothing ever comes free of strings. I don't want you getting caught up in another vendetta against Lionel Luthor because Lex still hasn't worked out his daddy issues."

"It's nothing like that, Lois. Lex knows that I want nothing to do with his father ever again. I think he wants my input because he knows that I will believe the strange stuff that he's uncovering." She met Clark's gaze knowingly. "And I think that being on the inside means that I can make sure that the truth comes out." Or that the truth is protected, she added silently.

There had once been a point in time when Clark had considered Lex Luthor to be a friend and had regarded him as almost a big brother figure. Over the years, though, Clark had been disturbed to see that Lex was exhibiting the proclivity to become just like his father: manipulative, deceitful, and determined to get his way by any means necessary.

Lex had become obsessed with figuring out Clark's secrets, and the continuous on-again, off-again friendship that he shared with him was strained by Lex's inability to leave it alone. Clark had reached a point where he was thinking that it was best to submit their relationship to the archives.

For years, Clark had gone against his father's warnings and had kept attempting to find the good in his troubled friend. It had always amazed him that his father, who had taught Clark to look for the best in everyone, couldn't seem to grant the same courtesy to Lex. Clark knew that the true source of Jonathan's dislike was Lex's father, Lionel, but he had hoped that as members of the next generation, he and Lex would be able to breach the divide.

Clark nodded reluctantly, understanding the message Chloe was trying to get across to him. He was going to have to trust her intuition on this one, even though he didn't much like it. If anyone knew the importance of keeping his secret, it was Chloe.

* * *

... 

Clark stumbled as he was magically transported back to the hidden cavern in the caves.

The meteor shower that interrupted his high school graduation ceremony had sent him running to the cavern for answers from the entity embodying his biological father, Jor-El. He had been told to reunite the three sacred stones at once or watch the world suffer through famine, war, and ultimately, destruction.

At the time of the warning, Clark had only found one of the crystals, and it sat looking mockingly up at him from the stone table in the cavern. After an odd meeting with Lana, Clark had placed the blood covered second stone in the table; an event that set off some sort of beacon in the final stone, which awaited him at the Luthor mansion.

It was there that Clark had met with the unexpected. Entering Lex's vault, he'd grabbed the final crystal only to realize that he was surrounded with the very thing that was sure to kill him: Kryptonite.

But that wasn't the surprise… It was the person who had saved him.

Chloe.

Apparently she had finally found out his secret.

It was somewhat of a blessing that the arrival of Lex back into the room had not allowed for conversation. When Chloe had gone to divert Lex's attention, Clark had taken the opportunity to disappear.

When the stones were united, they had transported Clark to the Arctic where he had stood stunned while watching a frozen palace emerge from the ice floor. Jor-El, it seemed, had a new address. Inside, Clark had learned that while he had brought the stones together in time to avert the certain evil that was to befall the human race, he hadn't been quick enough to avoid the destruction brought by the meteor shower.

"Disobedience and rebellion in response to destiny can only breed death and devastation, my Son," the voice of Jor-El had told him.

In anger, Clark had responded by yelling, "I am not your son!"

And then, suddenly, he was back in the caves… face to face with Lex and Chloe.

"Clark, what are you doing here?" Lex asked with narrowed eyes as Clark exited the hidden cavern.

Clark's mouth opened in surprise as he came to terms with who was standing in front of him. His eyes flicked to Chloe's and back to Lex. "I… I was looking for Lana… She never showed up at the graduation ceremony and…"

"Lana is safe. I put her on a helicopter an hour ago." Lex's attention turned to the space behind Clark. "It's open," he observed, stepping forward. "The meteor showers must have caused something to…"

His verbal speculation was interrupted as something colliding with the earth above them caused the ground to shake, and forced them to dodge a shower of rocks.

"We should get out of here," Chloe piped. "Somehow I don't think that these caves constitute a safe haven in the event of the sky falling."

Lex walked into the cavern and looked around in wonder, not deterred by the rocks and small boulders that continued to fall from the walls amidst the continuous shaking.

"Chloe's right," Clark offered, turning to look at Lex anxiously.

Lex noticed the silver key embedded in the stone table and reached for it. Just as his fingers grazed the cool metallic surface, a loud screaming noise filled the air. Clark pulled Lex out of the room as a meteor met its target, sealing the entrance of the room with a tumble of heavy boulders.

Picking himself up from the ground, Lex swallowed and watched Clark stand. "I'm beginning to think that I will never be able to count the times that you have pulled me from death." Lex turned back to the new wall of rocks that was keeping him from answers he'd been seeking for years.

Chloe coughed out a lungful of displaced dirt and glanced warily at the ceiling as if trying to determine where the next rock was going to fall from. "Well, if we don't leave sometime soon, you won't have to count anymore."

Another screaming sound in the distance caused them all to jump. With a final sigh, Lex followed Chloe and Clark as they dashed for the exit.

Outside, they dove for cover as a meteor rock the size of a small car crashed into the ground, kicking up rocks and earth. The resounding trembling caused the cave's entrance to collapse completely.

"I've got to get to my parents. There's no way they could have got out this fast," Clark announced, taking a foreboding look at the sky. It seemed that what they had just experienced was only the beginning.

"Well, since Lana's okay, I'll go with you. Lois took my car and headed out when I went to look for Lana, so…"

"I'm sorry," Lex interrupted.

Both Chloe and Clark turned to look at Lex questioningly.

Lex was still looking at the now unapproachable caves with an unreadable expression. "It seems that my irrepressible need for answers has put us all in danger." He faced Chloe. "I was wrong to bring you here like that. What's going on here is much larger than any one of us. My ranting about Clark… I was a little confused."

Lex scratched his head distractedly. "I would offer you both a ride, but it seems that I'm not in much of a position to do so," he said, using a hand to indicate his Porsche which was now half buried in an upright position.

All of them turned to look at the sky in unison as another barrage of rocks entered the atmosphere and caught fire as they headed toward town.

"We could all go together," Clark offered.

Lex shook his head. "I need to go back to the mansion. There's something that I need to check on."

Nodding, Clark reached to shake Lex's outstretched hand. "Good luck."

"Same to you both," Lex replied grimly. "Hopefully it won't take a near-experience for us to find some common ground in the future." With a final nod, Lex trudged away.

After a moment, Chloe and Clark began walking briskly in the opposite direction. They had been walking for twenty minutes when Chloe grabbed Clark's arm to stop him. Anxiety was deeply etched in his expression.

"Maybe now is the time to go into turbo-speed mode and get us out of here."

Clark frowned at her comment. He was now sure that she knew of his abilities. "We probably should talk about that," he started.

"Let's shelve that discussion for later when we're all sitting around the table with Hot Cocoa."

As Clark bent to pick her up, she sincerely hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

* * *

"You come bearing good news, I hope," Lex said, smiling and standing as Chloe was shown into his office at the LuthorCorp building in Metropolis. 

Chloe smirked and sat in a plush leather chair in front of his desk. "Nice office," she observed.

Lex's head tilted thoughtfully as he reclaimed his own chair. It did not go unnoticed that she hadn't answered his question. "I've been considering redecorating. It's a bit dark for my liking." He leaned back in his chair and swiveled to the side a little. "It could use a little more natural light, I think."

Chloe nodded. She somehow knew that he would keep up the small talk for as long as she wanted.

"There are still some things that have me worried about this whole thing."

Lex leaned forward and placed his palms flat against the desk top. "Is there anything that I can do to alleviate your concerns?"

"I'm not sure." Chloe replied grimly.

"Can I at least know what this is about?"

"It's your father," Chloe replied.

Lex shook his head. "Chloe, I can assure you that my father has nothing to do with any of this…"

"No," she interrupted. "That's not really true, is it?" At his perplexed look, she continued. "It's funny actually. You, me, Lana… Lois. We all gravitate toward the Kents because they represent something we are missing: the parental factor. It makes all the difference, doesn't it?"

She didn't wait for a response. She wasn't expecting one. "It's ironic that we make decisions about our lives based on the thoughts and impressions of people who aren't around."

"I'm sure your mother would be very proud of you, Chloe."

Chloe chuckled. "Yours too… but she isn't the absentee parent that influences your decisions."

Lex reclined into his chair and watched her thoughtfully. "The only thing that my father has influenced me to be is the opposite of him."

"But the influence is there nonetheless."

A full minute passed with them looking at each other before Lex nodded his acquiescence. "When I was growing up, the only heroes my father allowed me to emulate were tyrants and kings… Felix, Nero, Alexander of Pherea… and himself. He strove to suppress anything in my personality that went against his plan… Anything that he perceived as a weakness."

Lex ran a hand over his bald head and smiled. "I learned his lessons, but instead of being a destroyer of civilizations, I want to be the protector of them. Am I influenced by my father? Yes. But will I become him? No. Not if I have people around me who will help to keep me centered."

Chloe's eyes narrowed as she considered his words. It was obvious that his last statement was aimed at her impending decision to accept his job offer. As she was about to respond, he held up a hand.

"Let's table that for now." He rose and walked over to the mini-bar. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Oh, well, I don't…"

"I have sodas here too."

"Ok, then, sure. That would be nice. Thanks."

Lex set about to making their drinks. "I ran into Martha Kent at the Talon last week."

Chloe blanched at the unexpected announcement. "You did?"

Lex returned to the desk with two glasses and nodded as he sat back down. "Yes. It seems that Clark has his parents worried about his whereabouts. She wanted to know if I had heard from him."

"Oh?" Chloe retrieved her glass of clear soda and sipped.

Clark had told her about the awkward dinner in honor of his father's birthday. Still withholding information about what it was exactly that he was doing, his departure had once again been abrupt and disconcerting. It was no wonder that Mrs. Kent had approached Lex. Clark's parents had to be dangerously close to the end of their rope.

"She also wondered if I could use my contacts at the University of Metropolis to look up your new campus address."

"She did?"

"I told her that I would try. It's not often that the Kents are willing to ask me for anything, and I wanted to be thorough." Lex swirled his drink in his glass and set it down on the desk. "How is Clark?"

She sighed, defeated. There really was no reason to lie. Anyone would be able to guess that Chloe knew where Clark was. "He's fine."

"And Lois?"

Chloe blinked in surprise. "Lois?"

"Since I no longer see her name on the payroll, I figured that as family, you would have talked to her as well."

Chloe shrugged. "She's fine too."

"How about you? Are you fine?"

"I'm good," Chloe responded, laughing lightly. She was more than a little shocked that he was asking.

"I'm not an expert on this whole friendship thing. I've had far too little experience in that department, but I'm hoping to gain more. I know that Clark and I have lost some footing, but if you see him… and there's anything he needs… Well, you know where I am."

Chloe placed her glass on the desk and prepared to stand up. "Um… about Mrs. Kent…"

Lex shrugged. "Like I said; not much experience in the area… but I think I'll let Clark handle that one."

Relieved, Chloe rose to her feet.

"Before you g…" Lex's interjection caused her to halt as he pulled a file out of his desk drawer. He held it out to her. "Take this with you."

She accepted the file and looked at him questioningly. "What is it?"

"Just the icing on the cake… If you're willing, we can find so much more."

Chloe glanced at the red lettering that declared 'Top Secret' across the front of the folder. To herself, she wondered if he had an angle.

"Just think of it as me making the first offer of trust," Lex explained, also rising to his feet. "The ball is now in your court."

* * *

"You accepted it?" Clark asked. 

"Trial basis," Chloe responded. She pulled a folder from her messenger bag. "He said he was going to play his cards first, and that it was up to me to decide whether or not I wanted in the game. This is a freebie."

Clark took the folder and idly flipped through the papers. "There's no such thing as a freebie when there's a Luthor involved."

"I know, Clark," she emphasized. "But just go with me on this one, okay?"

At Clark's doubtful look, Chloe smiled. "Look, we'll be knee deep in conspiracies that have nothing to do with the origins of one Clark Kent."

"It just concerns me that he's not done trying to unearth secrets about me and my family."

"Clark, as much as it may seem otherwise, not everything has to be about your story. He promised that he was done looking into your life, and we haven't seen anything to contradict that promise in the nine months that have passed since the meteor shower."

"Except for the fact that he's had the caves excavated," Clark countered.

"Yes, but the good thing is he's no longer thinking that you're the missing link here. He's got the Luthor Foundation working on the restoration for historical purposes… He doesn't go there himself anymore."

"Do you really believe that?"

"You've got the key, Clark… And you're the one who told me that the wall is not responding anymore. Maybe it's over."

"And maybe it's not," Clark replied, doubtfully.

Chloe retrieved her file and began setting her laptop up on the kitchen table. "I'll be the first to admit that there are some things that you have a hard time letting go of. In a way, I can understand where he's coming from… It's hard to figure out your place in a world that gives you nothing but unexplainable mysteries and weird occurrences at every turn. But think of it this way, if Lex even starts to _smell_ anything Kryptonian… you and I will be the first to know."

"Do you think you can trust him?" Clark asked warily.

"I don't know," Chloe replied honestly. "But we'll see. By the way, he said that he ran into your mother the other day and she asked him to look up my whereabouts… I have a feeling that if you don't tell your folks something soon, they're going to show up at our front door."

Clark nodded. "I know."

Lois exited the bathroom with a groan. "Hot water is out," she announced with a grimace.

Chloe turned to Clark with an unspoken question.

"An hour and a half," he responded, causing her to smirk at the amount of time Lois had been in the shower. It was no wonder the hot water ran out.  
"Lois, are you okay?" Chloe asked.

"No! I can't get to sleep. My back is killing me, and my legs were starting to go numb in the shower."

"Did you take something?"

"Yes," Lois replied with a heavy sigh. "I'm at the limit. I would pay three months rent for a massage right now but nothing is open… Why don't they have 24-hour masseuses in this city? They have 24-hour tanning, 24-hour Mexican food, 24-hour…"

"I'll do it," Clark offered, interrupting Lois's tirade on Metropolis's 24-hour services.

Chloe turned wide eyes on Clark remembering their earlier conversation. "Uh, maybe that's not such a good idea."

Lois brightened. "What! No, that's a great idea. He can finally earn his keep." She grabbed Clark's hand, oblivious to the death stares that her two roommates were exchanging, and pulled him towards her room.

Chloe followed guardedly as Lois sprawled across the bed on her stomach and laid her head down on her crossed arms. "Hop to it, Inga."

Clark shrugged sheepishly in Chloe's direction and bent to place his hands on Lois's lower back. Shaking her head, Chloe headed back to her laptop.

"Wait," Lois said, fidgeting as Clark applied a little pressure to her back. "This is not comfortable. I need to…" She grunted as she turned onto her side and propped pillows to help keep her up. She had found that lying on her stomach was getting to be more and more uncomfortable. Her increasingly sensitive breasts were no doubt a large factor in that. "There."

Clark frowned and glanced down at her. In this position, her back was harder to reach. Pulling her desk chair over to the bed, he sat down and awkwardly reached for her torso. After a few awkward repositions, he settled on using one hand at a time.

Lois allowed her eyes to flutter shut as she felt his large hand gently rub against her screaming muscles. While the kneading was working out the stiffness, the repetitive motions were lulling her into a relaxed state she hadn't been able to reach for weeks.

"Hmmm," she murmured. "Yeah. That's good."

Clark smiled as he continued to press against tired muscles.

"Is this indicative of how your day at work went?" Clark asked.

Facing away from him, Lois opened an eye. "Are you asking me about my day?"

"Actually, I was asking about your back."

He could feel her laugh through his hands. "One and the same," she replied. "Both bad."

Clark scooted to the edge of his chair so he could lean close enough to add his other hand to her back. "Why?"

Lois jumped in surprise at his closeness. "Oh… uh, one of the reporters that I do research for in the Investigative Department decided that I have good instincts and set up a meeting with the Editor-in-Chief. They want me to apply for an internship and train as a junior reporter."

"How is that bad?"

Lois shifted slightly as he touched a tender area. "Change," she answered with a sigh. "In a little over six months, my life will go through a mini-revolution… Scratch that. Not mini. Major… A major revolution of epic proportions."

Clark chuckled. "Epic proportions?"

"I'm not ready to be somebody's mother. I'm still in my 'all about me' phase." After a moment she continued in a quiet voice. "There are times when I wish I could just press a pause button, you know? Put some things off until the future."

Clark was unsure of how to respond and his hands stilled as he processed her spoken thoughts.

A chill ran up Lois's spine as Clark's preoccupation led his fingers to trail to an area lower than had been his focus. Lois fought a groan. There was no way he knew what he was stirring up. She needed something to refocus them both.

"So, have you seen Lana lately?"

Clark blinked at the sudden change of subject. He moved to restart the massage. "Lana?"

"Yeah, I mean, you've been on campus a few times. I find it strange that you haven't bumped into her yet."

Clark frowned. "I guess I haven't really thought about her that much."

Gritting her teeth, Lois realized that her plan to cool off her hormones wasn't working. Lois changed her position so that her other side would be available.

When Clark moved to sit on the bed so he would be more comfortable when working on her untouched side, Lois released a little cough. "How could you not think about it? All you ever wanted was the white picket fence, red barn doors and small town girl."

Clark smiled to himself as he placed a hand lightly on her torso. "Maybe that's not what I want anymore."

Suddenly, Lois sat up, shaking his hands from her body. "Ok. We're done here."

Clark frowned in confusion, following suit when Lois stood up. "We just started on this side… You're going to be lopsided."

Lois forced a smile and began pushing him backwards toward the door. "It's okay… I think I feel sleepy. Thank you… really, I appreciate it… But now, you must go."

Clark opened his mouth to say something else, but the door was unceremoniously closed in his face. Turning, he saw Chloe leaning against the hallway wall with her arms crossed. Their racket had drawn her from her work and she had witnessed him getting tossed from her cousin's room.

Clark looked adorably lost. "What did I do?" he asked walking toward her.

Chloe shook her head and smirked. Pushing herself from her reclined position against the wall, the action of uncrossing her arms revealed that she held a pamphlet in her hand.

Clark caught it as she slapped the glossy brochure against his chest.

_Your Baby, Your Body, and You. _

His mouth formed a perfect 'O' as he scanned the paragraph Chloe pointed out. It described how the pregnant woman's changing hormones caused a heightened libido during the first trimester. Apparently, starting at about this time period, the sex drive kicked in at unexpected times.

Chloe patted him on the chest as she left him with the brochure. Over her shoulder, she answered his question with two words. "Week 15."

* * *

**

* * *

TBC**

* * *


	9. EIGHT

* * *

**EIGHT

* * *

**

* * *

"Hey, Chloe," Lois greeted. "What have you got going on later this evening?" 

Lois's brow creased a little as she listened to Chloe's response through the phone. "Oh, really? That sounds great. Well, good luck… No, it's nothing big. Don't worry about it." She rolled her eyes and shook her head as if her cousin could see her.

"Yes, I'm sure. So sure that I'm practically deodorant," Lois assured with a laugh. "Okay, we won't wait up. Bye."

Flipping her mobile phone closed, Lois smirked as she felt a presence behind her.

"You didn't tell her about the class?"

Lois turned to see Clark standing in the doorway to her room and shook her head. "It's not a big deal."

Clark looked doubtful. "That's not what Chloe's going to think when she finds out that she missed your first prenatal class. She is co-coach you know."

Lois rolled her eyes at the whole 'co-coach' thing. She hadn't been part of the discussion where Clark and Chloe had divvied up the coaching responsibilities.

"She and Lex discovered some undersea weapon that Lionel was developing and are in the middle of getting it taken off line. Plus, this is the middle of finals week. The girl doesn't need me adding more to her plate than she already has." She shrugged. "I've got 12 weeks of classes, I'm sure she'll be able to catch up."

Clark raised his hands as Lois pushed past him on her way out of the room. "Fine, but if she asks, I wanted to tell her."

Lois turned around long enough to glare. "Are you coming, or what?"

* * *

"I guess we should give a pause for our latecomers, then," a woman with light brown hair offered as Lois and Clark attempted to slide through the door unnoticed. Her words carried a hint of an Australian accent and her green eyes glinted mischievously. 

"Sorry we're late," Lois replied as the heads of six other couples turned to face them. She jerked a thumb over her shoulder at her companion. "He forgot the pillows."

Clark shrugged sheepishly and held up the items in question. The other women in the room nodded knowingly at Lois's complaint.

"Oh, that's quite all right. Come on in and grab a spot on the floor. We haven't gotten too far… just past introductions actually."

The instructor waited until her two newest pupils were seated before starting to speak. "Once again, my name is Renee Harris. This is my fifth year teaching child birthing classes for Metropolis General, and before that I was an OB nurse for seven years. Um, what else? …This is my fourth year here in the states, having started my career in Sydney. So, why don't we go ahead, give our names again, and I'll let you know a little more about what we have planned for the next 12 weeks."

Lois gave a small smile and wave when she realized that all eyes were on her and Clark once again. Apparently, she was to start the little circle of sharing. "Um… I'm Lois, and this is Clark."

"Lois and Clark," Renee repeated. "Good to have you. How far along have you?"

It took Lois a minute to figure out what the woman was asking. "Oh, 19 weeks," she replied sheepishly.

As the other couples spouted off their names, Lois idly wondered if she should have followed her first instinct and clarified Clark's position in the matter. Realizing the she had missed all of the other introductions due to her deliberation, she pushed the thoughts away. After all, when Chloe started showing up, the rest of the class would realize they were all friends anyway.

Renee was the only one standing as she faced the seated couples. "I like to start these classes by letting you mums-and-dads-to-be know that each birthing experience is unique. The only thing traditional about the whole process is the fact that a baby enters the world red-faced and screaming."

"I am far from what you would call a traditional teacher, which is most likely why all of you are here," Renee said with a laugh. "In most cases, expecting couples don't start classes this early along. I mean, have a look. Most of you don't even have a bump yet! Nevertheless, I believe that the best job I could do would be to prepare you for just about anything. And, I'm a subscriber to hands-on teaching, because I think experiential learning has far more practicality and longevity than theoretical learning. So, during the next 12 weeks, we will be doing a lot of trial runs. Should be fun!"

Renee walked over to a standing cabinet and opened the door. "These have always been a great tool. Former students rather enjoy this part," she explained, pulling out an armful of padding.

"This is a pregnancy vest just like the ones they have the celebrities wear for the movies." She deposited a vest in front of each couple and nodded. "What we're gonna do now is strap these things on, and get a good feel for how that belly feels when the baby starts poking out."

As the women began reaching for the vests, Renee cleared her throat. "Actually, today, the dads are going to be wearing them," she announced. Then lowering her voice to a conspiratorial tone, she winked. "The mums will have a go at it next week, and this way it gives us ladies a little leg up on the sympathy vote for later when the fellas start to remember what it was like to carry around a little Joey pouch."

Lois laughed as Clark struggled to adjust the shoulder straps on the vest so that the weighted pad would be situated correctly over his abdomen. She reached to help him and snapped the clasp shut across his back.

"Somehow, I wasn't expecting to be in this position with you," Clark quipped.

"That goes the same for me," Lois replied, still overcome with laughter. Moving to reclaim her seat on the floor, she patted his new protruding belly.

* * *

Chloe approached the blonde-haired man with a glass of water. "Here you go." 

Reaching for the glass, he gave her a bright smile showing perfectly aligned teeth. "Thanks."

Chloe nodded and sat on the bench next to him.

"Where did the bald guy go?" he asked after draining the glass in one long draw.

"Lex? Oh, he went to deal with the suits." Chloe bit her lower lip as she hesitated for a moment. "Arthur…"

"My friends call me AC. I figure anyone that saves you can be considered a friend."

Chloe nodded and shot him a slight smile. "Okay, AC... If you don't mind me asking, how did you get caught up in all of this?"

A.C. licked his lips silently wishing for another glass of water. The IV drip he had been kept on had only been enough to keep him alive. "I got a little hot-headed and went on a one-man crusade to save the marine life of the world."

"Marine life?" Chloe repeated in wonder. Smallville was nowhere near anything that would live in a sea or an ocean.

A.C. seemed to know what she was thinking. "They test that thing in your lakes and ponds but it was made for the ocean. You saw the test results right?"

"Yeah."

Her research had turned up a sudden increase in the number of dead fish in Crater Lake. Together, she and Lex had discovered that instead of the residue from meteor rocks now lining the bottom of the lake, the anomaly was tied to one of Lionel's projects titled Leviathan. The ominous name was not a misnomer.

If they hadn't stopped it when they did, the government's test would have been a success and the underwater weapon would have been reproduced and gone on to kill millions, both aquatic and human. When Chloe and Lex had arrived at the deployment center, they had found a very ashen and sickly looking man strapped to a table. After hearing Arthur's declarations regarding the weapon, Chloe had gone to release him while Lex had gone to stop Lionel's agents from completing the trial.

AC bent to the hole in the grated metal floor and dipped his hands into the water. Scooping some water into his hands, he rubbed it on his face and arms.

Chloe noted for the second time since meeting him that AC seemed to be rejuvenated by his contact with water. What she could have sworn were scaled patches of skin became softer and healthier under each pass of water.

"Have you ever been to Smallville before? Around the time of a meteor shower, perhaps?"

AC glanced up at her and shook his head. "No. To tell you the truth, I had never heard of the place. I can't say that the hospitality warrants a return visit, present company excluded of course."

Chloe smiled. "Of course."

Suddenly, AC grabbed his ears and grunted in pain. A few seconds later, red strobe lights began flashing on the walls.

In a panic, Chloe rushed to his side and knelt. "AC, are you okay?"

"They're doing it again," he groaned.

When he pulled his hands away from his head, Chloe could see blood trickling from his ears. "AC!"

Ignoring her call, he jumped into the water and disappeared.

Chloe stood to her feet and stared into the dark water for a few minutes before shaking herself from her trance. It was obvious that Lex hadn't made it in time to stop the weapon from going off, but she couldn't imagine how AC was planning on stopping it.

Before she could complete the thought, another alarm went off and water spurted through the grates in the floor as if an underwater explosion had gone off. The force of a second surge of water knocked her to the ground, and she coughed in an attempt to clear the liquid from her lungs.

Chloe jumped in surprise when a pair of strong arms helped her get to her feet. Wiping her face with her hand, she met AC's gaze.

AC shook his head to get rid of the excess water. "I took care of it," he announced with a grin. "But I have to admit that it's hard to try to save the world alone. It tends to be a losing battle when you're out there by yourself."

"I think you'd be surprised… you're not the only one out there."

"Yeah?" AC tilted his head and looked at her curiously. "So what are you doing to save the world?"

Chloe matched his posture. "Protecting people like you so you're free to do your thing."

AC broke out in a wide grin once again. "Well that's a cause I can definitely support." He lowered himself into the hole.

"Wait!" Chloe was rendered almost speechless with the number of questions she wanted to ask. "You... Where are you going to go?"

"Me?" AC asked, flashing his blinding smile again. "To find some more waves, I guess."

Chloe smiled. She knew there was more to the story, but she had a feeling that she would have other opportunities to figure it out. "Well, be careful."

"Same to you, Blondie." He winked and gave her the surfer's 'hang ten' hand signal before submerging and swimming out of sight.

Chloe's teeth were chattering from the coolness of her wet clothes by the time Lex reappeared. His long black coat swirled around his legs as he jogged into the room.

"You're okay," he sighed in obvious relief. "And Arthur?"

"He's gone."

Lex looked like he wanted to ask for more information but decided against it. Instead he nodded and shrugged out of his coat so he could drape it over her shoulders. "By the time I got there, the weapon had already been deployed. The fact that it self-combusted was enough to convince the Pentagon this wasn't a project they wanted to fund after all."

"I guess that's a good thing," she remarked, although inside she dreaded finding out what other skeletons were going to fall out of Lionel Luthor's closet.

"Let's get back to the mansion so we can get you into some dry clothes. It's been a long day. I bet you could use some dinner too." Lex took one last glance around the room before ushering Chloe out.

* * *

Clark rubbed his back dramatically as Lois unlocked the door to the apartment. "Oh, my aching back," he complained. "That baby vest was very realistic." 

He frowned slightly and followed her inside when she didn't respond to his teasing. He could tell by her gait that her back was sore. Even with the use of two pillows for padding, sitting on the floor for the duration of a two-hour class was not all that comfortable. Lois had made him aware of that fact numerous times throughout the night.

But now, all of a sudden, she wasn't taking her own bait.

"Hey," he called, trailing her into the kitchen where she dropped her keys on the counter next to the phone. "Are you okay?"

Lois flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned to face him. "I'm fine. Just… tired. I'm going to head to bed. Good night."

"Night." Clark watched doubtfully as she left the kitchen.

He stood at the kitchen counter for a few minutes before deciding to go take a shower and watch some TV. Chloe had told Lois that she would be home late, and although it was finals week, he had been able to work ahead with his online classes and was done so he really had nothing pressing to do.

Later, he searched idly through the channels looking for something interesting to watch as he lay across the futon. He sat up when he heard Lois flip on the light to the kitchen. When he walked inside, he found her putting her heating pad in the microwave.

"Okay, so my back does hurt," Lois announced, sensing that he was behind her without turning around. "I'm exhausted but I can't get to sleep." She hit the Start button on the microwave and turned to face him. "Do you know how frustrating that is?"

Clark chuckled. "It's barely past 8:00pm. Maybe your brain is just not used to going to bed this early."

At her glare he grinned. "Why don't you come over here and let me work my magic? You shouldn't break up a routine when it works."

After the first massage he'd given her a few weeks ago, they had made it a nightly event, although Lois had insisted that they move it out of her room. Clark knew why, but decided that it would have been too embarrassing for both of them to talk about Lois's raging hormones. Instead, he would massage her back as well as he could while she sat on a stool at the kitchen counter, and he was quick to stop when she demanded that the massage was over.

With a reluctant sigh, Lois nodded and moved to sit on the stool. As relaxing as these massages were for her back, they continued to stoke a fire that she had no way of dousing. Faced with two evils, she figured it best to pick the least of them. At least this way, she would be able to get a few hours of sleep.

With her back turned to him, Clark allowed his grin to slip a little. The truth was, he had almost been grateful that there wasn't going to be a massage tonight. Their closeness only served to bring back thoughts of the intimacy of the class earlier that night.

After directing the non-pregnant coaches to don the baby belly vests, Renee had put them through a dry run of a labor and delivery. The exercise was no doubt meant to be funny and relaxing, and for the most part it had been. Each couple took a turn in imitating what they believed labor was going to be like, using the movies they'd seen or stories they had heard as guidance. The only twist was that the roles were reversed.

Having Lois behind him straddling his waist as she yelled at him to breathe and push in a tone that would have made any drill sergeant proud had caused an unexpected effect. Feeling her hair brush against his neck as she leaned against him when she doubled over in laughter had made that unexpected effect even more profound. Now, every touch, every word, and every gesture seemed to carry a little more weight in his head.

The sound of the microwave beeping startled Clark out of his thoughts. His hands continued to move through a memorized pattern as he cleared his throat. "So what's really bothering you?"

Lois's head lifted. She too had been caught up in her own thoughts. "Huh?"

"Tonight," Clark clarified. "You've been a little preoccupied since we got back."

"Oh."

Lois didn't seem like she was planning on continuing so Clark tried to think back to when her demeanor had changed. After the couples had done their labor skits, Renee had begun the true purpose of the class, handing out packets of information and proceeding with the rest of the agenda. The resulting discussion had covered everything from healthy diet and exercise to pain management in the delivery room. By the time they had started to talk about budgeting for a newborn, Clark had been sufficiently overwhelmed. He figured that Lois was feeling the same way.

"I guess it's a little more real now, isn't it?" Clark asked.

"I don't think I can handle it getting any more real than this," Lois agreed with a sigh. "The problem is I know that it will."

The massage continued in silence for a few minutes before Clark spoke again. "Lois… If money ever becomes an issue… you could always come back to the farm."

Lois shook her head. "It's covered. My mom left a trust… and there was some insurance money from when she…" She shifted slightly to redirect the pressure from his hands and continued. "I'm not supposed to get access until I'm 25 but I'm sure there's some kind of rainy day clause in there somewhere."

She gestured in the general direction of her middle. "I'd say it's raining…"

Clark smiled and moved his hands up her back, gingerly moving her hair out of the way by sliding it to the front of her right shoulder.

Lois stiffened as he encountered new territory. Usually, they would have stopped by now. As she began to take inventory of the different signals her body was sending her, she realized that they _should_ have stopped by now.

When one of his hands brushed her neck, an involuntary groan escaped from her lips. Clark's hands stilled and she jumped from the stool with wide eyes.

"Thanks," she mumbled, brushing past him without meeting his gaze.

"Lois." Clark immediately followed behind her, almost running into her as she stopped just before entering her room. He was afraid to say anything else in fear that the spell would be broken.

Lois's eyes were clenched as she fought to regain her composure. They weren't touching but she felt tingles up and down the back of her body as if their closeness was magnetic. If she was daring, she would only have to lean backwards a mere inch… but she wasn't.

She felt her hair being gently lifted from her neck again and shuddered. The inanity of the moment was compounded by the fact that she couldn't remember feeling this safe in… forever. Even the constant prattle that was her subconscious had become suspiciously silent.

It was probably shocked to death, she mused to herself, trying to think of anything other than the warm breath that was caressing a hidden spot behind her ear.

She felt her heartbeat slow. It was almost as if the planets and stars had finally come into alignment and time had slowed to a standstill, just for that moment.

Clark's arm wound around her and he placed his large palm flat against her belly. Almost as if in response, a deep fluttering took place in her center. Lois's mouth dropped as she realized that the baby had just moved, and she was feeling it for the first time. There was no way that Clark could have known about it, but she felt that he was part of it nonetheless.

Raising her own hand and placing it on top of his, she intertwined their fingers.

When Clark leaned his head down to press his lips to her neck, she could have sworn that the arm wrapped around her was the only thing that kept her from melting into a puddle on the floor.

* * *

In the dark, Clark's enhanced vision allowed him to gaze at a sleeping Lois without trouble. It amused him that she was practically laying on top of him, her head on his chest, an arm thrown over his bicep, and a leg entangled with one of his under the sheets. The comforter was in a pile on the floor, and only the top sheet was covering them. 

In some odd way the vision of her in a bra with a red cotton sheet draped over her, covering all the right areas, was more enticing than seeing her naked. He had protested when she had reached to put the bra back on after he had worked so hard to get it off earlier, but she had explained that the extra weight of her expanding bust size required constant support.

Hearing keys rattling in the door, he focused on the clock across the room and realized that Chloe was coming home. He would have turned on the turbo speed but didn't want to wake Lois from what was he (and his hearing) knew to be the deepest sleep she had been able achieve in weeks. Sliding from underneath her and gently rolling her onto her back, he pulled his jeans from the floor and slid them on over his briefs.

In her sleep, Lois let out a muffled groan of protest before throwing her arms above her head and quieting. Clark fought the urge to slide back into the bed and in a flurry of motion, threw on his shirt, socks and shoes and tip-toed to the closed door.

Chloe stopped short when she saw Clark gently closing the door to Lois's room. She had just gotten through the front door when she noticed him in the darkened hallway. Narrowing her eyes, she stepped forward.

"Clark, is everything okay?"

He ran a hand through his hair and nodded. "Her back was hurting and she couldn't sleep," he explained, gesturing toward the closed door to Lois's room.

Chloe noted that his shirt seemed to be on inside out and crossed her arms. "And now?"

"It's better." Clark gave a small cough and stepped around her on his way to the bathroom. "I guess I'll head to bed."

Chloe released a sigh heavy with disappointment. "Clark…"

"Chloe," he interrupted. "Don't."

Chloe looked at him and realized that her thoughts about him a few weeks ago were wrong. Clark wasn't in the process of falling for Lois; he was standing at the bottom of the pit, looking up at her.

When the bathroom door closed behind Clark, she walked over and opened Lois's door. Seeing that her cousin was soundly asleep, she tamped down her anger. The conversation she was planning to have was one that could wait until the morning.

* * *

Lois entered the kitchen yawning. "Mornin' Cuz." 

Chloe continued to sit at the table twirling a pen with her thumb and forefinger.

Lois frowned when her normally morning-friendly cousin didn't respond. Turning to take a second look at her cousin, she noticed what she was drinking.

"Clark made smoothies this morning?"

Chloe smirked to herself. "Yours is in the fridge."

Lois clicked her tongue in pleasure and retrieved her drink. "Where is he anyway?"

"He said something about going to the library so he could take his last final in silence," Chloe covered. In truth, he had gone to Smallville to do his chores.

"Hmmm," Lois murmured as she took a swallow of the drink while sliding into the chair opposite Chloe. "I totally missed you coming home. Did you have an eventful night?"

"Nothing like yours."

Lois coughed at Chloe's tone. "What?"

"He left you a note." Chloe lifted her arm to reveal a small folded piece of paper. Raising her brows, she slid it across the table.

"Chloe…"

"I can't believe you're taking advantage of him like this!" Chloe spurted, halting whatever Lois had been about to say. "He doesn't deserve it."

Lois frowned. "Taking advantage?"

Chloe released a sharp laugh. "Yes, Lois. Taking advantage. You don't even see it, do you? Clark left home, he's fighting with his parents, he quit school, changed his address… all so that he could help you."

Chloe pushed away from the table and stood. "And what do you do?"

"Chloe… I didn't do anything!"

"Exactly! That's exactly my point, Lois. What are you doing to help yourself in all of this?"

Lois sat speechless; her eyes tracking her cousin's determined pacing across the small space.

"I mean, it's partly my fault, I know it," Chloe continued. "Clark wouldn't even be involved if it weren't for me… but I never even imagined this would happen. I mean, here you are… pregnant, and you don't even _want_ to figure out the who, what, when, where, and how of that predicament. It's like we're pretending that nothing happened… That one day, you just woke up pregnant, and there's no other part to the story!"

Chloe spun in a complete circle before returning to the table and leaning on it. She looked Lois in the eye. "I get that you are afraid to dig. I totally get that, but it's not fair to anyone. Not Clark, not his parents, not me… but most of all, not to yourself. And not to the baby."

Tears sprung to Lois's eyes but she locked her jaw and refused to let them fall.

Chloe shook her head and started pacing again, not noticing the moisture in Lois's gaze. "He's falling in love with you, you know? Or not you… but the idea of you and him plus baby. Are you even in the same universe as he is on that?"

Lois swallowed and looked away, afraid that her resolve to not cry would fail.

Chloe took the motion as her answer. "I didn't think so. Lois, Clark is different. You can't play with him like this. He's always going to try to save the world, but if you're not ready to be saved…"

With a sigh, Chloe realized that she had probably gone overboard. She hadn't wanted to verbally attack Lois; she had just wanted to knock some sense into her. The scene she walked in on last night was disconcerting. The two people closest to her were dancing on the edge of reason, and she was tired of pretending that she didn't see it.

"If you're not ready to get to the bottom of this, Lois, when will you be?" Chloe's pacing had stopped with her standing a small distance behind Lois. "When?"

Lois drew in a long breath. She swore that she could feel the helium slowly trickle out of her heart, which had been the source of the floating feeling she had woken up with. The fairy tale ending wasn't going to be hers, no matter how much she wanted it.

Surreptitiously swiping at the lone tear that found its way down her left cheek, she pushed away from the table. Standing, she ignored her partially empty glass and reached for the note.

"You're right," Lois finally said. When she turned around to face Chloe, her emotions had been neatly tucked back into their spots, and there was nothing vulnerable about her facade.

She shot Chloe a forced smile as she stepped past her. "I'm going to head to work, but… thanks. I needed to hear all of that."

Leaving a slightly mollified Chloe in her wake, Lois paused just inside her bedroom and dropped the crumpled and unread slip of paper into the wastebasket next to the door.

* * *

**

* * *

TBC

* * *

**


	10. NINE

A/N: Thanks for the comments! I really appreciate them, and they do help me stay on top of posting, lol. With all the other crap I have to do in my 'real' life, I need some nagging now and then to make time to work on the story. You all make it happen- if no one was reading, I'd have no reason to write. So, give yourselves a hand... and then go read some more!  
sonia

* * *

**NINE

* * *

**

* * *

"Are you sure everything is okay?" Clark questioned Chloe as he dropped his bag into the trunk of her car. 

When he had returned from doing his chores a week ago, he felt as if he had walked into an alternate universe. Every time he had tried to get Lois alone to talk to her, something would interrupt them. He had expected for things to change after that night… but he had been hoping the change would have been for the better.

All three of them were finished with finals, and Lois and Chloe were planning on taking summer school as part of their claim on the Family Housing docket. In the meantime, they had two weeks of freedom before it was time to start hunting for used textbooks again.

The one time Clark had been able to get Lois alone was during her second child birthing class. While she had looked particularly annoyed with his presence, she hadn't objected to it when he had entered the class late and quietly sat on the floor beside her. He had been surprised that Chloe hadn't come, and when he'd asked, Lois had whispered something to the effect of not telling her about the classes yet.

The week before, the class had led to a night of intimacy he had never imagined possible. After stumbling further into the room with Lois wrapped in his arms, he'd tripped over a stray shoe and dropped her on the bed. Giggling, Lois had seemed willing to overlook his clumsiness and scooted across the mattress to make room for him. By the time he'd fumbled through the clips on her bra, getting his fingers tangled twice in the process, they both were overcome with laughter.

Kissing him sweetly on the lips, she had thanked him for trying and flawlessly re-hooked her bra with one arm in a move that he would never be able to replicate. In the end, Lois had fashioned him into her personal body pillow and mumbled something about 'next time' before drifting off to sleep.

After the class this week, instead of talking about what that 'next time' might entail, the trip home had been mostly filled with awkward silence. At least it was silent until Lois had started trying to convince him that it was time for him to take a trip home. Eventually, he had agreed that it was time for him to try to make some peace with his parents.

Chloe threw her small bag into the trunk alongside his. "Nothing is wrong," she assured him.

Clark frowned at her response. The more logical answer would have been something along the lines of 'everything is fine.' When her eyes suddenly widened, he turned around to see what was causing the stir. A grin spread across his face as he saw Lois standing on the front stoop with a bag at her feet.

"You decided to come?" After a few days, Clark had given up on approaching the topic of their night and tried to sway her resolve to join him and Chloe on the trip to Smallville. He knew she wasn't ready to confess to his parents yet, but he believed that she would be able to help him think up a good cover story.

Lois stepped off of the stoop and used a hand to reclaim tangles of her hair from the wind. "Two weeks before the grind of school and work starts up again… I figure I could use a weekend in a place where the national pastime is watching the grass grow."

Clark laughed happily and bounded past her toward the apartment. "I'll lock up and get your bag," he offered as he went.

Chloe's gaze narrowed slightly as Clark left them. "You just made his millennium."

Lois's shoulders drooped a bit. "I'm not going for him."

She sighed and gave up on smoothing her hair. "Listen, I just figured that I could use one normal weekend at home before my world changes… One last time to see the folks before they start looking at me like…" Her statement faltered when Clark bounded back to them with her bag in his arms.

"Ready?" he asked.

Chloe glanced at Lois and then back at Clark. Letting a small smile appear on her face, she nodded. "Yes. Let's go."

Two hours later, Chloe and Clark were chatting as scenery flew past outside of the windows. Lois was lying across the back seat amongst the pillows they had brought along pretending to be asleep.

Her stomach churned with nerves. She couldn't count the number of times she had almost yelled out for Chloe to pull the car over to the side of the road. She knew that her fears were unrealistic; while her appetite had increased immensely, there was little to show for her body's new occupation as incubator. For some reason, she just had a feeling that Martha Kent would take one look at her and know.

Swallowing, she pushed herself upright. Her back would be killing her by the time they arrived at the farm if she continued to feign sleep.

"We didn't wake you, did we?" Clark asked, turning to look at her over his shoulder.

"No," Lois answered, moving the pillows so she could get comfortable. "What are you planning on telling your parents about being MIA for the past few weeks?"

Chloe glanced at Lois in her rearview mirror. She wondered if Lois was thinking of letting the Kents in on the truth.

Clark shrugged. "I figured that we would just tell them I've been living with you guys… It's true."

Lois focused her attention to the fields of cows that they were passing. "What do you plan on saying that you were helping with?"

"I don't know… Rent?"

Chloe was forced to smile at his naïve answer. "I don't think that you adding money from some non-existent job will justify running away from home in their book."

Lois chuckled wryly and shook her head.

Looking from one cousin to the other, Clark shrugged. "Well, what should we say?"

Lois suddenly wished she had stayed asleep. As much as she didn't relish the thought of lying to Clark's parents, it was something they were going to have to do. "We've got a little over an hour to figure it out."

* * *

"Home, Sweet, Home," Clark announced as Chloe drove the car under the wooden ranch archway. 

After they all climbed out of the car, Lois took a moment to gaze at the sky. She had missed the quiet tranquility of watching the last finger-like rays disappear from the sky at dusk.

Hearing the sound of the screen door slap shut, Lois turned to find Martha and Jonathan Kent watching them from the porch. The three friends looked at each other briefly before they began walking across the drive toward the house.

The two young women followed behind Clark as he climbed up the steps to the porch. Once on the landing, he grinned. "Hey, Mom. Hey, Dad."

Lois felt a pinch of envy when Clark was welcomed with tight embraces from both of his parents. After all, he had essentially abandoned them without a plausible explanation, and yet, he was still welcomed with open arms. It had never worked that way in her family.

Even having witnessed the interaction between Clark and his parents, Lois was still taken by surprise when she was pulled into a hug by Martha once Clark had been freed.

"Lois! I was wondering when you would finally come home to see us."

"Well, work and school… you know."

Martha pulled back far enough to look at Lois with a teasing frown. "School, huh? Isn't that just how college kids are? They get a little taste of freedom and only decide to come see the parents when it's time for laundry."

Laughing, Martha released Lois and hugged Chloe. "Please tell me that you don't treat your father like this."

Chloe laughed. "Not at all. As a matter of fact, I'm driving out to Greenville tonight to stay with him for the weekend."

Lois turned and shot Chloe a panicked look. She hadn't expected her to leave.

"Oh, that's too bad, but at least you can stay for dinner, right?" Jonathan asked.

"We don't want you to go to any trouble," Lois piped. "I was actually considering joining Chloe…"

"It's no trouble at all, Sweetie," Martha interrupted. "And Shelby would be quite disappointed if you didn't stay at least one night with us."

As if summoned, the dog jumped against the screen door and pawed at the handle until it swung open.

"I guess that's better than going through the window," Lois muttered, turning away and bracing herself for Shelby to launch at her as normal.

Shelby skidded to a halt just as he was about to pounce upon his favorite target. Quizzically, he began sniffing the air around her as if afraid to get too close.

Puzzled with the change of events, Lois shared a questioning glance with the other humans around her. Calmly, Shelby approached Lois and muzzled her hand with clear affection.

"I guess he missed you," Clark said, reaching down to scratch behind the dogs ears.

"I guess so," Lois replied after a slight hesitation. Feeling eyes on her, she turned to see Martha studying her curiously.

"Of course I'll stay the night," Lois answered quickly, hoping to divert the attention that was on her.

"Great," Jonathan said, reaching out to place a hand on Clark's shoulder. "Why don't you guys bring your stuff in and we'll go and add settings at the table."

"Since I'm not bringing in my bag, I'll help you set the table," Chloe offered, following the elder Kents into the house.

Lois followed Clark back to the car so they could retrieve their bags. "They know."

Clark turned to face her with a frown. "What?"

She glanced at the house and then back to him. "They _know_," she insisted gesturing toward her midsection.

Clark smiled and used Chloe's key to open the trunk. "No they don't, Lois. You're just being paranoid."

Lois glared at him and moved to stand between him and the car. "_You_ guessed it! What makes you think they wouldn't?" She pushed herself away from him and kicked a rock off the drive. "I knew I shouldn't have come."

"Lois, wait!" Clark walked over and placed his hands on her shoulders lightly. "There is no way they could know about the baby. I have hardly seen them for more than a few hours combined since I've moved in with you and Chloe."

He ducked his head to force her to look into his eyes. "My parents wouldn't automatically guess that me coming to Metropolis to help you and Chloe equals pregnancy." He grinned. "We'll just stick with the plan…"

Lois reluctantly nodded and walked back to the car. When she bent to pull her bag out of the trunk, Shelby, who had been closely trailing her since their encounter on the porch, began barking loudly.

"What's got into you, Cujo?"

Shelby continued barking until Clark reached out and took the bag from her. He didn't seem to notice Shelby's strange behavior.

Lois narrowed her eyes at the dog for a moment before shrugging it off and following Clark back to the house.

* * *

Martha handed Chloe the napkins and silverware with a smile. "I'll bring the plates out in a minute." 

When Chloe disappeared into the dining room, Martha grabbed her husband's hand and led him to the far corner of the kitchen. "It's Lois."

Jonathan favored her with a soft smile. "I know. It's good to see her isn't it?"

"No, Jonathan. Lois is the one Clark said he had to help. She's pregnant."

"Martha…" he replied doubtfully. "That's a stretch…"

"I don't think so, Honey. She's picked up a little weight…"

He glanced out of the window. "How can you even tell? She looks the same as when she left. Besides, everybody gains weight with those non-organic meals on college campuses."

Martha shook her head at her naïve husband. She felt that the brunt of his protest was just his brain buying time to process the possibility that she was right.

"Shh," she commanded, seeing Clark and Lois enter the kitchen. Patting Jonathan's chest, she stepped away from him and started pulling plates from the cabinet. "It's time for dinner."

* * *

Lois released a breath as the last plate was cleared from the table. Dinner had been uneventful for the most part, and she was ready to concede that Clark had been right about his mother not having a super ultrasound-enhanced sixth-sense. 

As it turned out, while it was obvious that Clark's parents were looking forward to having a private audience with their wayward son, it hadn't affected the family atmosphere during dinner. The past hour was spent with light conversation about Met U professors and funny anecdotes from Lois and Chloe about working in the different recesses of the Daily Planet.

The only snag that Lois had run into was forcing herself to stop eating after her second plate, even though Clark had gone for thirds. As she was planning a midnight rendezvous with the plate of leftover fried chicken, Martha placed an apple pie in the center of the table.

"Would anyone like coffee with their pie?" Martha asked. When she received nods from Jonathan and Chloe and a 'no thanks' from Clark she turned to Lois. "Lois?"

"Oh… I don't think…"

"It's decaf," Martha assured her offhandedly. Catching herself, she quickly continued, "I figured that you were tired from your trip and wouldn't want anything that would keep you up."

Lois's eyes flicked to the faces of the other people sitting at the table, but they were all laughing at something Clark had just said and weren't paying attention to her and Martha.

"Sure… thanks," Lois replied desperately feeling the need to gain her composure back. "I'm just going to run to the bathroom…"

* * *

Safely insulated behind the bathroom's closed door, Lois almost wished that the pea-size bladder that had tormented her earlier in her pregnancy was back. Right now, she had no reason to be in the bathroom except to see the panicked eyes of the woman in the looking-glass. 

Dreading going back down the stairs to face the closest person to a mother she'd had since she was six, Lois stepped past the stairwell and slipped into Clark's room. Running a hand along the wall, she took in the small changes to the room that had occurred since the time she had been there. Her tour stopped at the window and she took a moment to stare wistfully out at the late evening sky.

"I'm sorry, Honey," Martha's voice said from the doorway.

Not trusting how she would feel once she looked at Martha's face, Lois focused her gaze down on the windowsill. There was no reason to keep up a charade when the gig was up. "So am I."

Martha entered the room and sat on the bed. "Are you okay?"

Lois laughed, resorting to her aloof persona. "Considering…" She vaguely gestured at her body. "I'd have to say yes."

"Lois," Martha chided, knowing full well which barrier Lois was in the process of erecting. She patted the bed next to her. "Come here."

Lois tentatively lowered herself onto the bed. She opened her mouth, but feeling unsure of what to say, she closed it without a word.

Martha took a moment to study Lois as she sat with her eyes locked tightly on the clasped hands in her lap. As a mother, her heart pained her to enlighten the young woman on the consequences of risky behavior… but that lecture was obviously unnecessary. She felt that even though their acquaintance had been rather short, she knew the character of the woman in front of her as if she were her own daughter. Guilt was something that Lois didn't need help allocating.

"You look beautiful."

Lois blinked at the tears that suddenly threatened to fall. Hormones made her emotions so quick-fused that she was having trouble controlling them… especially when she wanted to.

"They say that you're supposed to glow… I guess I must be a neon sign if you could take one look at me and know what's going on."

Martha smiled and reached out to wipe away the errant tear that was dislodged when Lois blinked. "I needed a little bit more than one look."

Lois laughed at the mental image of Martha doing a double and then a triple-take. "I guess I can unbutton this thing, then," Lois quipped, reaching down to undo the button on her blazer so that the blue shirt underneath was fully visible.

Martha smiled at the sight of the thickening around Lois's middle. She couldn't help but sigh in amusement. "Aw, look at you… Both of you."

Conversation stilled as both tried to think of what to say next.

"I guess that without Clark around, Mr. Kent is overworked with keeping the farm going," Lois commented, silently apologizing for being the reason behind Clark's abandonment of his farm duties.

Martha knew what Lois's underlying message was. "Well, we've known for some time that Clark was bound for a life beyond that of a simple farmer. It has always been part of the plan to hire extra hands and lease out some of the land. Clark's decision to move out only shifted the time table up a bit. Some things are just fated to happen. You can't find blame in that."

Lois nodded, and silence settled between them once again.

"Are you scared?"

"Terrified," Lois admitted in a rush of breath.

Martha smiled and kicked her shoes off, sliding back on the bed to lean against the headboard. Shuffling the pillows at her back, she beckoned for Lois to join her.

Lois hesitated for a moment before following Martha's example.

"My mother and I used to do this all the time," Martha explained. "All of our best talks happened when we were camped out on my bed."

Lois leaned her head back and gazed at the ceiling silently.

After a moment, Martha reached out and took her hand. "Motherhood is always a terrifying experience. It doesn't ever get less scary, but you get better at handling it. I'm sure that you'll do a remarkable job."

"You might not think that when you get the whole story," Lois scoffed.

Martha held her hand tighter when Lois started to pull away. "Try me," she commanded softly.

No time like the present, Lois mused to herself, closing her eyes. "The week of finals, I planned a cram session at the library one night after closing the Talon. I might have sidetracked to a party or two on the way back… or on the way there…" She swallowed, nervous about what she was about to confess. "No studying got done, but I did learn first hand that a couple of drinks plus a hot guy equals 9 months of water gain."

Horrified, Martha sat up and looked at Lois. There were a thousand things she could say right at that moment, but none of them would help the situation. "Does…Does he know?"

Lois cleared her throat. "I'm still working that part out. I… uh… can't remember who _he_ is, exactly…"

"Can't remember?" Martha repeated incredulously.

"Yeah… there was a point there where I thought I'd been drugged…"

"Lois!" Martha exclaimed in shock.

With a heavy sigh, Lois finally met Martha's wide-eyed gaze. "…But what I do remember is too clear for that. I wasn't drugged. Irresponsible, no doubt, but not… forced."

Martha's brow creased with worry. How any of this could be possible, she didn't know. "Are you certain?"

Lois nodded. The moisture in Martha's eyes had rendered her silent. She could only imagine the disappointed thoughts going through the older woman's mind. When Martha released a heavy sigh, Lois looked away.

"Lois… If you need anything…"

Martha's offer was cut off with a soft knock on the door frame.

"I just wanted to make sure everything was all right." Clark looked from his mother to Lois where they were sitting on the bed.

"Its fine," Lois replied, sliding to the edge of the bed and swinging her legs back over the side. "We were just catching up."

Jonathan stepped up behind Clark. "Lois, Chloe says that she's planning on heading out pretty soon."

"Right," Lois answered, realizing that the Kents were due a private talk. "I'll just… go… see her." She finished the sentence with an odd hand gesture to indicate that she was going downstairs.

Leaving her shoes where they lay, she rose from the bed and walked to the door. Clark moved to get out of her way, but they ended up stepping in the same direction to avoid each other.

"Sorry," Clark offered, standing still and allowing Lois to step around him.

Shooting a forced smile at both Clark and his father as she finally managed to get past, Lois headed down the stairs. She had to make herself to slow down so that it wouldn't appear that she was fleeing the scene.

* * *

Chloe glanced up as Lois hit the bottom landing. "Something chasing you?" 

Lois took in a breath and slowed her pace even more. "Not yet."

Chloe frowned. "What happened?"

"Nothing… They know."

"They kn… Oh." Chloe let out a low whistle. "I could stay tonight and go see my dad tomorrow. Or, better yet, you could come out to Granville with me, if you'd like."

Lois smiled and shook her head. "No. Thanks, though. I'm part of the reason he's in this mess… and I think we both will have some explaining to do. So consider me facing my issues straight on, starting tonight."

Chloe perked at the possibility that Lois was finally ready to do some digging. "Really? All of them?"

At Lois's glare she laughed. "I'll be back tomorrow with my Sherlock jacket and deerstalker. We'll figure this out. Okay?"

As Lois leaned to return Chloe's farewell hug, she didn't know whether to be relieved or anxious about that promise.

* * *

Clark sat on his bed looking up at his parents. The difference in their standing height to his seated height made him feel like a young child again. 

"I feel for Lois just as much as you do, but what you just said is absurd," Martha exclaimed looking at her son as if he had suddenly sprouted wings.

Jonathan was right there with her, having been brought up to speed on the entire situation 10 minutes earlier. "Now that we know who you were helping and why, what you did makes more sense, but _this_ is not right, Clark. She's pregnant with a baby whose father she hasn't quite figured out yet…"

The stressed older man ran a hand through is sandy-colored hair. "Helping is honorable and all, Son, but… a proposal?"

Martha placed a comforting hand on her husband's arm. "Marriage is about love, not duty, Clark."

"Maybe it's about both." Clark frowned, slightly miffed that the reaction his parents had given hadn't been the one he was counting on. "I love her."

Martha couldn't hold in her surprised laugh at her son's response. This wasn't the first time he had told them he was in love, nor the first time he wanted to prove it with a drastic move. Caught up in their conversation, none of the room's occupants noticed when Lois silently backed away from the doorway.

Jonathan sighed. "Son, neither you nor Lois deserves to be put in a position to make a major decision like this under these kind of circumstances. Is this _really_ about you falling in love with her, or does it just boil down to protective urges?"

Losing patience, Clark threw up his hands. "Does it make any difference at this point?"

"Yes," Martha replied softly. "It makes all the difference in the world. Especially for Lois."

"I know that I love her and that I want a family. I want Lois and the baby to be my family."

Jonathan sighed. His son was so stubborn sometimes, something that wasn't always a good trait. "Does she love you?"

Clark shrugged. "I guess we'll find out, won't we?"

"Clark, that's not normally the way it works," his mother admonished.

"Nothing about this entire thing is normal," Clark retorted. "_I'm_ not even normal!"

"Clark, slow down," Jonathan warned. "I think you've learned that something like this cannot be rushed…"

"You guys like Lois! This isn't anything like Alicia." Clark seemed to be genuinely exasperated with his parents. He thought that he was doing the right thing by discussing it with them first.

When he had been under the influence of Red Kryptonite and married Alicia on a whim, they had gone ballistic. That mistake had been annulled, and this time he was trying to keep them involved… even though his first thought had been to do otherwise.

"We _love_ Lois," Martha corrected. "But that's not the point. If the two of you were in the same place emotionally and mentally, this would be an entirely different conversation. I don't think Lois is anywhere near ready for something like this, Sweetie."

"I'll wait until she is," Clark declared solemnly.

Jonathan and Martha shared a glance. Clark wasn't seeing the full picture of what he was suggesting.

"Marriage is also about honesty, Clark. Are you planning on telling Lois about your abilities?"

Clark thought about how to answer his father's question. He couldn't risk Lois rejecting him over his uniqueness. Not now. "Eventually."

"Clark…" Martha started in a warning tone.

"She's got enough to worry about without having to deal with aliens on earth right now."

"Son, can't you see that you are going about this all wrong?" Jonathan huffed.

Clark shook his head and stood. They didn't understand how much he _needed_ her. Hell, he didn't even truly understand it.

"Just be happy for us," Clark pleaded, turning and leaving his parents alone in his room.

Jonathan rubbed his jaw thoughtfully. "How do you see this one ending up?" he asked his wife.

"I don't know," Martha answered, tightening her hold on his arm. "After everything that I've heard tonight, I can't make heads or tails of any of it."

* * *

Clark smiled when he located the source of the dual heartbeats he had taken to monitoring. One of the rhythms was slow and soothing, while the other one was much faster. They both were life. 

Grinning widely, he jogged up the stairs to the loft.

"Hey."

Lois turned from the telescope and smiled. "You're alive," she observed.

"Barely," Clark retorted, walking over to stand beside her.

They both stared into the sky, silently tracing the paths of the stars with their eyes.

"Lois…"

"Don't," she interrupted.

"You don't even know what I was about to say."

Lois turned to face him. "I know that you are an honorable and noble soul, Clark Kent. Whatever you were about to say doesn't matter, because the answer is no."

She reached up and placed a hand against the side of his face. "But, thank you."

"You're always trying to save me… This time I think that I'll return the favor." Rubbing his cheek gently with her thumb, she leaned up to place a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Good night, Farm Boy."

* * *

**

* * *

TBC

* * *

**


	11. TEN

**TEN

* * *

**

* * *

By the time Clark had come up with his rebuttal to Lois's rejection of his non-proposal, the entire household was asleep. Entering the darkened kitchen, he realized that he'd stayed out in his loft for over two hours since Lois had left. With a sigh, he dug his pajamas out of his overnight bag and climbed the stairs so he could change in the bathroom. 

As he finished brushing his teeth, Clark allowed his senses to wander, once again searching for the harmonious sound of two hearts intertwined. He frowned and set the toothbrush on the counter when he was confronted with the quiet sounds of distress instead of the peaceful rhythmic pulse he was expecting.

Slipping into his bedroom, Clark hesitated at the door for a second as he considered the possibility that he was trespassing… even though the space technically belonged to him. When Lois whimpered and thrashed at the covers, he unconsciously moved toward the bed, abandoning his earlier doubt.

His hand hovered over her shoulder as he considered waking her. "Lois," he whispered.

When she didn't respond, he lowered his hand to her shoulder and gently shook her. "Lois."

Lois sat up with a start. Looking around as if trying to get her bearings, she blinked at the darkness and placed a hand on her chest. Eventually her gaze met his face in confusion.

"Superman?"

Even with his enhanced hearing, Clark had trouble trying to decipher what she mumbled as she awoke. "What?"

"I was falling…" Lois blinked again and shook her head as if trying to shake off the remnants of her dream. "Clark?"

Lois's hands clutched at the bed sheets on both sides of her. "Am I dreaming?"

"Not anymore," Clark answered.

She covered her eyes with her hands and sucked in a deep breath. Something about being here at the farm made her dreams much more powerful. She was having a hard time discerning between what was real and what wasn't. Releasing the air from her lungs, she realized that the flying man she had been picturing earlier should have been a major clue that she had been dreaming.

"Are you okay?"

Lois nodded and ran a hand through her hair. The light streaming into the room from the hallway allowed her to see his face clearly, but she didn't need to see his expression to know he was worried. His emotions tended to emanate off of him like an aura.

Lois shuddered involuntarily, and Clark pulled his hand from her shoulder. He hadn't realized that it was still there.

"I'm fine," she assured him, in part trying to reassure herself of the same thing. She really wasn't in any hurry to go back to sleep. She was sure that her anxiety over finally deciding to focus on her suppressed memories was the cause of these disturbing dreams.

Lois flipped the covers back and got out of the bed. "I think I'll go get some water…"

"I'll go," Clark quickly offered.

"It's okay," Lois replied, placing a hand on his arm as he was about to bolt. "I can get it."

Getting a glass of water for her certainly seemed like it was a little and innocent gesture, but to Lois it held deeper significance. Even before Chloe had confronted her, she had known that Clark was a walking hero-complex. From the outside, she had observed that his entire relationship with Lana Lang had been centered on his coming to her rescue at every turn. Now that they had finally parted ways, Lois felt that he was in need of another charity case… and she didn't want to be it.

She released his arm and walked out of the room, leaving him alone in the dark.

Clark's countenance darkened at her refusal. Things had been going so well; in fact, a few weeks ago, they had been almost perfect. If he had learned anything about pregnant women over the last two months, he had learned that they were moody. Lois's frequent changes from emotional extremes were expected… yet he knew there was something else going on with her.

She was trying to push him away again.

Clark's jaw was set as he descended the stairs. Lois was sitting at the dining table, idly tapping her fingers against the glass of water in front of her. She looked up when Clark pulled out the chair across from her and sat down.

"Chloe will be back tomorrow," she stated. "When we head back to Metropolis, you should stay here."

Clark's eyes narrowed. "No."

Lois smirked as if she had been expecting that response from him and was preparing to launch into the rest of her debate. "I appreciate your invasion on my life and everything, but I really think that it's time you repair things with your folks. I shouldn't have let you stop your life because mine was imploding." Lois forced a smile. His parents were right to try to knock some sense into Clark about the time he was devoting to her. And so was Chloe. It wasn't fair to any of them.

The way that Clark's face remained impassive during her spiel made Lois uneasy. She had been expecting for him to say something.

"You need to go back to school… and sleeping on a couch can't be good for your back."

Lois paused again, looking at him uncertainly. It was hard to have a debate if the sparring partner refused to contribute.

"I'm going to tell Chloe about the pregnancy classes, and she'll be my partner, so…"

Clark waited for her to finish the sentence. They both knew what she needed to say… and they both knew why she couldn't.

_…I don't need you._

"Chloe and I are going to start trying to get to the bottom of this whole thing. It's what's best for all of us."

"Are you done?"

Lois's mouth opened in surprise. "No… I have, like, ten more things listed. First, you..."

"If they're anything like the others, they aren't worth mentioning," Clark interjected in a wry tone. "School: I signed up for classes at Met U this summer. The couch: As I recall, my back did fine after the year you spent in my room, so I'm willing to chance it."

"My parents," He said, lifting a third finger to illustrate the point he was on. "They know where to find me. That's all that really matters right now. And that thing about you letting me stop my life? Only I can do that… and it hasn't stopped."

He purposely left the last issue untouched. Their gazes were locked in a silent battle.

"You kind of stole my moment earlier in the Loft," he began softly.

"Clark…"

He growled in frustration. "Can't you ever let someone else get a word in edgewise?"

Lois arched an eyebrow. "Not when I know that they're about to say something stupid."

"How do you know it's going to be stupid if you don't let me get it out?"

"Because, I know…"

"That was a rhetorical question," Clark interrupted with a raised hand. "I wasn't really looking for an answer."

Clark had to look away to keep from laughing at Lois's expression. He was determined to stay with his anger until he finished everything he wanted to say.

"I think that it is great that you want to find out what really happened, Lois. But that doesn't mean that I can't still help out. Finding the father of your baby and letting me be a part of what you are going through are two different things, and they don't have to be mutually exclusive."

Lois ran a hand through her hair. "Clark…"

"No, I listened to you. I heard everything that you were trying to say." He favored her with a knowing look. "Now, let me have a turn."

Even though he had begged for the moment to speak, he was at a loss for where to start and they sat looking at each other in silence for a long moment.

"What I was going to tell you earlier was that I wanted to make a commitment."

Lois paled and started to push her chair back.

Seeing the movement, Clark's hand darted out to grab her hand. He held it there on the table as he quickly continued his speech. "I know that it's like second nature for you to push people away but I don't think that's what you really want. So you're stuck with me… until you do."

Lois looked down at the table where his hand was covering hers. She was relieved that the commitment he wasn't talking about wasn't marriage after all.

That's what happens when you eavesdrop, she chided herself. You get it all wrong.

Swallowing, she considered what he'd said. After everything that they had shared so far, and after how important his unconditional support had been to her, Lois couldn't deny that Clark had been a great friend to her during the past few trying weeks.

She looked up to meet his eyes once again. "And when I do _really_ want you to leave, you'll go?"

Clark answered with a silent nod. "No questions asked."

Lois sighed and slowly pulled her hand from his. There were a few issues that they were leaving untouched; one being a certain night in particular, but perhaps pretending that it wasn't a big deal was best.

They had just been caught up in the heat of the moment. That was it.

"I think we need some ground rules."

Clark rolled his eyes and sighed. "I thought this was my proposal."

Lois bit back a smile and gave him an exasperated look. "Then you should have thought of having ground rules."

"Okay. One rule, each. Ladies first."

Lois regarded him seriously. "No marriage proposals."

To his credit, Clark didn't flinch even though he felt like it. He nodded in agreement. A deal was a deal.

"My turn." He matched her expression. "You have to trust me and let me help you in the way that I feel is best."

Lois frowned. "That was two."

Clark recalled his last statement. "Okay. You have to trust me _when_ I help you in the way that I feel is best."

"What if your way is wrong?"

Clark grinned for the first time that night. "I didn't debate your rule."

"Fine." A Lane didn't back down from a challenge.

Clark released a slow breath. He had been too scared to hope. He raised his hand and extended his pinkie. "Shake on it?"

Rolling her eyes and letting out a soft chuckle, Lois curled her pinkie around his. "Happy?"

"Ecstatic. I still have clothes in your closet, and knowing how much you like them, I was afraid I wouldn't get them back if I stayed here."

"I see… It was really about the flannel."

Clark nodded. "Isn't it always?"

Lois shook her head and rose from the table to empty her glass of water in the sink. It was actually a relief that things weren't going to be awkward between her and Clark anymore. She had a feeling that the other stuff on her plate was about to heat up.

Turning around, she bid him good night for the second time and headed for the stairs.

* * *

The next morning, Lois stepped out onto the porch and sucked in a deep breath full of non-polluted air. She was a city girl at heart, but sometimes country-life was a welcome change of pace. 

"Good Morning."

Lois smiled and turned to see Clark leaning against the railing on the far end of the porch. She hadn't seen him standing there.

"Back at you."

Clark returned the smile and walked over to stand next to her. "Where are you off to this morning?"

"The Talon."

"Mom's got you working already?"

"Actually, I'm going to see if anything spurs my memory. Chloe's going to meet me here later so we can get a plan together… I just needed something to do in the meantime, and twiddling my thumbs wasn't working."

Clark laughed at the mental image Lois had described. He heard scratching and whining at the door and turned around. Lois had closed the heavy inner door when she had come outside and Shelby was unable to follow.

Lois glanced at him when he turned back to face her. "Your dog is driving me crazy."

"Are your allergies acting up?"

"No, he just won't leave me alone." Lois frowned in thought. "Come to think of it, I haven't sneezed once since we've been here."

Clark's mind switched to something that had been bothering him since their talk the previous evening. He didn't want to put stress on their tenuous new truce, but there was something he needed to know.

"What about that swimmer guy?"

"Who?"

"You know… That guy who came into the Talon a few weeks before you left. You were planning on going on a date, remember?"

"Arthur?"

"Yeah. Him." Clark sniffed. "Could he be…" He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "…Is he the father?"

Lois looked at him strangely. "We never…"

"Oh." Clark nodded and gazed out over the fields. "Good."

She arched an eyebrow. "Good?"

"I didn't like him."

"You didn't even know him."

"Well, I guess you didn't know him all that well either. He stood you up didn't he?"

Lois scoffed. "He said that he had to go out of town… and we _did_ go on a date. It was nice."

Martha fought to keep Shelby inside the house as she slipped through the door. "Stay," she commanded, readjusting the strap of her purse on her shoulder. Smiling softly at the picture Lois and Clark created standing together on the porch, she crossed over to them.

"Are you ready to go, Sweetie?"

Lois smiled at the older woman and nodded. "Ready and willing."

"Mom, don't let her stay on her feet all day, okay?" Clark requested as Lois trailed his mother down the porch steps.

Lois sent him a glare over her shoulder.

"I'm sure we'll be just fine, Clark," Martha called out with a smirk.

Clark laughed and waved as the two women climbed into the truck.

* * *

"Well, I went by Central K's campus on the way over today. Even though the entire school is on digital security now, they don't keep the feeds on site beyond 3 months if there is nothing of special interest on them." 

Chloe frowned as Clark continued to dig through random drawers and cabinets. Swiveling on her stool at the kitchen counter to follow his movements she continued with her narrative.

"I spent at least an hour at the Security Office trying to get access to the Library logs only to find out that they'd been destroyed. Basically, there's no way to tell if Lois made it to the library or not on c-day."

When Clark didn't stop to get clarification on her witticism, she rolled her eyes and explained it anyway. "C-day, as in Day of Conception…"

Her hand on his forearm as he dug through another drawer caused Clark to stop. "I'm sorry, what?"

Chloe laughed at his question. There was no telling how much of the conversation he had missed, and she figured that she knew the reason for his preoccupation. "How did the talk with your parents go?"

"Not quite as well as planned," he replied. "They kind of freaked when I told them that I wanted to propose to her."

Chloe's jaw dropped and her hand fell from his arm. "You did what?"

Clark noted her expression. "I told my parents that I wanted to marry Lois," he reiterated slowly.

Chloe forced herself to blink. "That's… a little sudden, don't you think?"

"Don't worry. I didn't do it, and I'm not going to."

"Oh, okay." Chloe sighed in relief.

Clark's face hardened at her reaction but Chloe didn't notice.

"Something else happened last night," Clark offered. "Lois asked me to move out."

"She did?"

Clark could tell that she wasn't surprised. "What did you say to her?"

Chloe looked up at him in surprise. "What did I say to…?"

Clark's expression didn't change.

"Clark, I just didn't want anyone to get…"

"Hurt?" Clark asked before she could finish. "Isn't it funny how people always say that when they've done something to contradict it?"

Chloe scoffed at his accusation. "That's an interesting observation coming from you. Where was that thoughtfulness when you decided to jump into Lois's bed without considering the consequences?"

Clark's eyes narrowed and a muscle in his jaw twitched.

"Don't you think there might be some things that you should have talked about first? Like… I don't know… the fact that you're from a different planet, maybe?"

"That's not really your business."

Chloe laughed wryly. "Oh, so it was my business when it was Lana, but now that it's my cousin, I'm supposed to look the other way? No, I think I have every right to be concerned here."

Clark sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He knew that he was displacing his anger and taking it out on Chloe unfairly. This was a conversation they needed to have, but he could be calmer about it.

"I'm sorry. You're right. You have a right to be concerned… but… nothing happened that night, okay?"

"So you didn't…"

"No."

"Oh." Chloe's face took on a puzzled expression. She wondered why Lois hadn't felt the need to clear that up when Chloe had confronted her about it.

"And I'm not moving out."

Chloe was surprised. "You're not?"

When Clark shook his head, she glanced at the ceiling in an attempt to come up with a safe way to address her concerns. The earlier conversation was evidence that she needed to tread carefully.

Clark saw this and pushed away from the counter. "Lois needs both of us, Chloe."

Chloe nibbled on her bottom lip and tried to come up with a countering argument, but he was right. And she knew it. "What does Lois say?"

"She agreed."

That came as a complete surprise. Lois was not an easy person to get to change her mind about something that she was set on.

"I don't want us to be on opposite sides," Clark continued. "You know I wouldn't do anything to hurt her."

Clark hurting Lois wasn't really the possibility that Chloe was concerned about. Clark was getting too attached. She was afraid to think about what would happen when they found the father of Lois's child.

"I need to ask you a favor."

Chloe broke from her silent thoughts at his words. "Okay," she replied warily.

"I'm falling in love with your cousin, Chloe."

When Chloe started to respond, he shook his head. "I'm not asking you to help me, or anything. Just… don't try to stop it."

Her resolve to protect her two best friends from themselves began to crumble at the look in his eyes. "Clark, I don't think Lois is…"

"Please, Chloe?"

After a moment of hesitation, she released a heavy sigh and nodded.

"What about the whole Krypton thing?" In Chloe's opinion, if Clark had learned from his failed relationship attempt with Lana, he knew that hiding the truth about his heritage would be a mistake.

"I've got it all worked out. I promise." He shot her a grateful smile, and returned his attention to the drawer he had been searching through.

"What are you looking for?"

"Matches," he replied, offhandedly, moving to another cabinet.

Chloe figured that she was missing something. "Why do you need a match?"

Clark gestured to the oven without turning around. "The pilot light is out…"

"I have a flame thrower in my car…" she quipped, attempting to lessen the heavy tension that filled the room. Her gaze followed him as he suddenly pulled his hand out of a drawer and strode briskly to the sink. He turned on the water and started rinsing his hand.

Intrigued, Chloe walked to the sink and looked to see what had drawn his attention away from his search so quickly.

"Your hand is bleeding," she remarked in surprise, looking at the small cut on his finger that Clark was tending to.

"I accidentally swiped it on the blade of a knife in the drawer…"

Chloe turned to the open drawer and saw the object in question. Pulling the Ginsu knife from the drawer, she turned it over in her hands as she inspected it closely.

"I know that these things have a reputation for cutting through just about anything, but I don't recall steel being one of the exceptions."

She peered into the drawer again. There was no meteor rock inside.

Clark grabbed a paper towel and pressed it against his finger.

"Care to explain why Mr. Invincible needs a Band-Aid for a cut on his finger?" Chloe asked.

"Not really."

Chloe's eyebrows rose in shock from his unexpected answer. "What happened, Clark?"

Clark pulled the paper towel away from his finger to see that the bleeding had stopped. "Jor-El took my powers."

"What! Why?"

"Because I asked him to." Clark tossed the used paper towel in the trash and strode out of the kitchen door.

Chloe remained frozen in shock for a full minute and a half before she dropped the knife on the counter and sprinted after him.

* * *

--- 

"Jor-El!" Clark screamed. The sound of voice echoed through the icy caverns.

"Are you prepared to begin your journey, Kal-El?"

Clark frowned and turned in a circle. He wished that he knew where the disembodied voice was coming from so he would have a focal point for his argument. "No!"

"Why have you come?" the voice asked resolutely.

"I have questions."

Clark's mind had been reeling after his talk with Lois the night before. He had been too restless to fall asleep, preoccupied with trying to guess what the next few months would have in store for all of them. He had finally drifted off to sleep at some point during his musings.

In his dreams, a little boy with dark hair and light eyes seemed to call to him. He had immediately known who the child was. If Clark hadn't been in love with Lois in reality, he would have fallen in love all over again after seeing her reflected in the features of the boy before him.

He was their son… His and Lois's. He knew it.

And yet, each time he tried to get close to him, the boy would begin to fade away. In the end, Clark had kept his distance and followed the child through valleys and over mountains until he had ended up at a desolate plane in the Arctic. If ever there was a place that deserved the title Fortress of Solitude, it was the giant ice palace that arched above him into the pale sky.

With a smile, the little boy had disappeared and Clark had woken up. For the life of him, he couldn't remember the face of the child, but he had remembered the path he had followed.

The path that had brought him back to the Arctic Palace.

The hidden cavern in the Kawatche caves had been his previous way of accessing the ice fortress, but the caves had been damaged after the second meteor shower. Government agencies had declared the area unstable and everything within a 20 mile radius was under heavy surveillance until the land could be razed and used for another purpose. Until his dream, Clark had not known how to return to the Fortress without attracting undue attention.

After watching Lois drive off with his mother that morning, Clark had decided to pay his biological father a visit.

When the voice didn't respond to Clark's statement, he decided that he was free to air his concerns.

"Who am I?"

"You are Kal-El, of the House of El, the last son of a dying planet called Krypton…"

"No," Clark interrupted. "Who am I to this earth?"

"You will be its light. It is your destiny."

Clark sighed in frustration. Nothing about his life made sense to him… except for the one thing he couldn't have. "My father says that the only person who can control my destiny is myself," he challenged.

"Jonathan Kent is correct."

The response caught Clark by surprise. "What is that supposed to mean? I thought my destiny was already written."

"Each decision you make from this point on creates the facets of who you are to become."

Clark was tired of the half answers. He didn't want to hear anything else about a future that kept spiraling out of his control.

He thought about his dream again. The little boy had wanted something from Clark. Somehow Clark knew that he was the key to the child's ability to cross into the realm of life.

And that let Clark know that everything he wanted was well within his reach.

"Is it possible for me to have a child?"

"The time for that possibility has passed."

Clark stumbled backwards at the weight of those words. "What? How…? I don't understand."

"Your genetic makeup is incompatible with anyone not possessing Kryptonian alleles."

"But you said that the possibility has passed," Clark stated desperately. "That implies that there was a chance…"

He was grasping at invisible straws, but if there was a missed opportunity, then perhaps there would be a way to recreate it.

"It cannot be done." The words boomed across the cavern in a foreboding tone. "It is now time to start on your journey…"

"No!" Clark's world was falling in around him, and all that blasted voice could talk about was some stupid trip. He wanted no part of it.

"If this so-called journey is so important, why haven't you just forced me to do it?" His eyes narrowed slightly as he waited for an answer. He was starting to understand what the hold-up was… and he was starting to see a way out.

"You must come willingly."

For the first time since arriving, Clark smiled. "And what happens if I choose to never come?"

"That is not an option."

"I don't want these abilities!" he shouted in anger. "I don't want this destiny! I am Clark Kent, son of Martha and Jonathan Kent… and I want to make my own decisions."

"Until you accept who you are, you will never be ready for who you are meant to be." The voice stated vaguely. "What is your decision, Kal-El?"

"I want to be human." There was no hesitation. If he was human, the rules would change. Anything would be possible.

A bright light began to shine from the inside of an altar-like conglomeration of ice crystals. Clark lifted an arm to block the brightness from his eyes. Squinting, he watched nervously as a cylindrical crystal rose from the middle of the light and spun lazily in the air.

"Every decision comes with a consequence," the voice instructed nonchalantly. "If you choose this path, you will be certain to learn the fragility of human existence."

Clark looked at the crystal and thought about Lois. The only future that he wanted was the one with her in it. He was convinced that his heritage would make that impossible, so in his mind there was only one choice.

Lowering his arm and facing the brightness with determination, he reached for the crystal, slowly wrapping his fingers around the cool surface.

After a blinding instant, he found himself falling to the packed earth of the Kent Farm's driveway. Grimacing at the soreness of his shoulder as he stood, he smiled.

To Clark, the pain was a sign of victory.

---

* * *

**

* * *

TBC**


	12. ELEVEN

* * *

**ELEVEN**

* * *

* * *

Lex looked up from the sheet of paper that he was reading from when he noticed that he was lacking the attention of his audience. Rising from his desk, he walked over to the baby grand piano that sat in the corner and sat down on the bench. Dramatically stretching his fingers, he slowly lowered his hands to the keys and began a hearty rendition of Scott Joplin's "The Entertainer."

The vibrant music radiating from the piano stirred Chloe from her thoughts. Amused, she turned to see that Lex had moved from his desk and was now at the piano. She clapped when he played the ending chord.

"I guess I would have expected something more along the lines of Wolfgang Amadeus from you," she remarked as Lex returned to his desk.

Lex smiled as he sat down. "Sure, but where's the surprise in that?"

"True," Chloe replied, returning the smile. After a beat she pulled her gaze away and looked down at the folder in her lap. "Where were we?"

Lex's eyes narrowed imperceptibly. "My mother used to play that song for me when she thought I was anxious about something. She often told me that I was far too young to carry the weight of the world around on my shoulders. It usually did the trick to lighten my mood… I suppose that I could use some work, seeing as it's not as effective for you."

Chloe looked up at him. "You were trying to lighten my mood?"

"You had that weight-of-the-world look on your face. Do you want to talk about it?"

Her slight hesitation indicated that she did want to share, but wanted to be careful about it. Lex nodded in understanding.

"Sometimes it helps to get a different perspective on things."

"Maybe." Chloe sighed heavily. She looked at him as if weighing something for a moment before speaking again. "The scary thing about people is that they can be so unpredictable. One minute, you think you know everything about them… and then the next, they do something that makes you realize that you don't know them at all."

Even though Chloe did not reveal any names, Lex knew that she was talking about her friend. He had been concerned when Mrs. Kent had asked for his help in finding Clark and had been relieved when his sources had found out that Clark had returned home.

The Kents weren't aware of their importance to Lex, but their existence as a sound familial unit served as an example of what he wanted to eventually have. Protecting them was akin to preserving his own future. It was an act of guarding what he might become.

"I don't know, Chloe," Lex responded after a thoughtful silence. "I don't find it to be scary as much as amazing."

At her quizzical look, he continued. "I mean, what makes people unpredictable is the fact that they have an unlimited capacity for change. That is what fascinates me. I think that each person goes through life looking for ways to better themselves. In the end, the ultimate goal is to reach your full potential."

Chloe listened to Lex's theory in wonder. "I never expected you to be such a philosopher."

Lex smiled and shrugged. "What can I say? I'm unpredictable. Does that scare you?" he asked teasingly.

"In a way, it actually does," Chloe responded with a laugh. "Because that would mean I would have to look at you in a whole new light."

"I don't mind."

After a beat, Chloe blinked to break the pull of his gaze and cleared her throat. "I should be going. I'm supposed to meet Lois in a little while."

Lex nodded and rose to his feet as Chloe gathered the papers that were strewn out around her.

He walked with her to the door of his office once she was finished. "Chloe, I just want to reiterate that if you need my help with anything, just call. What good is having a billionaire for a friend if he doesn't pull strings when you need them?"

For the first time Chloe understood why Lex had always put up with Clark's frequent requests for favors even during the rocky stages of their troubled friendship. The lonely and friendless child in Lex was desperate to keep people around for as long as he could… even if it meant allowing himself to be used.

In his mind, his money was all that he had to offer.

"Thanks, Lex. I'll see you later, okay?"

Lex watched her enter the office's private elevator and nodded curtly as the doors slid shut.

* * *

Chloe looked on with wide eyes as Lois practically inhaled a Cobb salad.

Lois looked up at her with a puzzled expression. "What?"

Chloe shook her head and pasted a grin on her face. "Nothing!"

Hiding a chuckle, she reached for her packet of salad dressing.

Lois shrugged and returned her attention to her meal. "How's the research coming?" she asked around a slice of chicken breast.

"It's going well…" Chloe glanced back to her cousin's rapidly emptying dish. "In fact I have an angle on the protagonist for a new story… She eats as if she's half rabbit, but in fact, I think she's actually pregnant."

Lois swallowed her last bite and glared at her cousin while reaching for her glass of water. "Funny. Hilarious, even. Can I help it if this kid has decided to go all super-grow on me?" she asked placing a hand on her growing bump.

After taking a drink of water, Lois looked at Chloe curiously. "Protagonist? I thought you wanted to write non-fiction."

Chloe nodded as she used her fork to spread the dressing among the pieces of lettuce. "I do, and I am… eventually. Lex helped me talk to a publisher and basically, if I were to start out publishing my stories as non-fiction, I would be labeled a quack."

"You _are_ a quack."

Chloe fixed Lois with an exasperated look and they both started to laugh. "Anyway, I kind of like the idea of sneaking the extraordinary truth into the public subconscious under the tag of fiction. It's almost like writing in duality, with the reality being right under the surface."

Lois arched an eyebrow. "Duality, huh? I have no idea what you're talking about, but as long as you're convinced…" She shoved another forkful into her mouth and looked at Chloe expectantly.

"I am," Chloe replied. "And I don't plan on writing fiction forever. When the time is right, and people are ready, I'll pull out the big guns."

"Chloe Sullivan, gun-slinging novelist… Has a nice ring to it," Lois teased.

Chloe accepted the taunt with a good-natured laugh. "Actually, I've been thinking of a using a pen name. Chloe Sullivan already has a history and a semi-literary career. I'd like a fresh start… A new identity."

Lois, finally feeling that her hunger was sated for the time being, leaned back in her chair. "A pen name, eh? How about Sparky Carruthers… or Cinnamon Andrews?"

Chloe's fork paused in mid air. "You can't be serious."

"What? You don't like them?" Lois asked genuinely.

"Promise me you won't name your kid without help."

Lois shrugged dismissively. "I know how we can figure it out. What's that street name game…? The name of a pet plus the name of a street you lived on..."

A smirk came to Lois's lips as she thought about it. "I had a fish called Wanda once…"

Chloe lifted a hand to stop her cousin's musings. "You are so fired. I said a new identity, not a new career as a drag queen."

Lois rolled her eyes. "Well, my other suggestion was going to be to just use your middle name. That way if you got famous and had to start answering to it, you wouldn't freak out."

"My middle name?" Chloe repeated. "That might work."

"See, I can come up with good names…" Lois pouted.

"For the record, you can't claim that you came up with a name that I already have… and you're still not allowed to name the baby," Chloe deadpanned. 

Lois decided to ignore the comment. "So, Lex hooked you up with a publisher, huh? Is he trying to put the moves on you? You know, I may be pregnant but I can still kick some bald billionaire ass…"

"Lois!" Chloe burst into laughter at the mental imagery. "I don't think that's necessary but thanks. He has just been really nice."

Lois's eyes narrowed as she watched her cousin's face. What she noticed there made her eyebrows rise. "Oh."

Chloe heard the lilt in her tone and looked back to her. "What?" She saw that Lois was grimacing and holding her head. "What's wrong!"

Lois pried one eye open. "Is it possible to get a brain freeze from a salad?"

Chloe's look gave her the answer. "Well, then, I might have eaten too fast."

Chloe shook her head in wonder. "Um… you think?" she asked sarcastically, gesturing to her own partially eaten salad. Lois's empty plate had a lone crouton remaining in its center.

The cousins fell into laughter again and Chloe silently thanked the stars that Lois's mood had gotten better. The dead ends to their investigation in Smallville had put them both in a momentary funk. While Chloe's demeanor had brightened pretty quickly after the small setback, Lois had been pretty miserable for a variety of reasons: headaches, backaches, feet aches… the entire gamut of aches, actually. It seemed that the baby's sudden growth spurt was taking a toll on Lois's body.

The security tapes from the Talon weren't digital like the ones at Central Kansas, but were recorded directly onto compact discs and archived by the security company. Unfortunately, the company required a few days to search for the discs in question.

In the meantime, Clark had remained in Smallville for a few more days when Chloe and Lois headed back to Metropolis. They all agreed that it would be best for him to spend some time with his parents before returning. He had promised to bring the security discs with him when he returned that evening.

"Clark's coming back tonight." Chloe regarded her cousin thoughtfully for a moment. She had promised not to get involved, but the subject of cousin and her best friend was never far from her mind. Knowing that she couldn't approach the topic she really wanted to, she changed tactics. "I'm looking forward to taking a look at those cds. It would be good to finally get some answers, huh?"

Lois blinked from her own private thoughts and sighed. "Yes, it would. What I remember is like a dream. I can't even do it justice trying to explain it… I don't think I could even explain it if I tried."

She paused and Chloe pushed her salad aside, ready to totally focus on Lois's words.

"For one moment it seemed as if nothing else mattered… as if everything else faded away and it was just me and him. I have never felt anything like that before…"

Lois met Chloe's gaze with a look that begged for understanding, even though she knew it wasn't possible. "I can't see his face… but what I felt then… It was love."

Chloe's eyes widened but she remained quiet.

"I know it doesn't make sense, believe me… but, that's what it was. It's like a puzzle. I am a piece, the baby is a piece… there's just one that's missing, but when we find it… when we find _him_… everything should fit. In theory anyway," Lois finished with a chuckle.

"Then there's Clark. He's been great… and wonderful. If it weren't for all of this…" Lois gestured at her body with a hand. "… There might be something there, which is crazy because without all of this I would have never really seen him like this, you know?"

Lois shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know what I'm saying."

Chloe looked on in sympathy. It was obvious that Lois was torn. "You're saying that you owe to yourself, the baby, and Clark to find the father and see if what you felt was real."

Lois lifted her head to meet her gaze. "Yeah, I guess that's what I'm saying."

Chloe nodded, both in response to Lois and in response to the questions unearthed by her own doubt. Lois wouldn't be ready to let her heart go until she made peace with her dreams. And with that knowledge, Chloe was going to have to trust that Lois and Clark would work out the hitches in their relationship… if it ever got to that.

* * *

Lois stood in front of the refrigerator, holding the door open and sighed.

Chloe entered the kitchen and started laughing. "You _cannot_ be hungry again."

Lois glanced over her shoulder and closed the door. "Not hungry, hungry… I just have a taste for something…"

Chloe turned as she heard the front door to the apartment open and close.

"Hey guys," Clark called as he entered the room. He held up a bag. "I have presents."

Lois grabbed the bag and groaned in delight as she pulled a half-pint of ice cream from it. Flipping off the lid and grabbing a spoon, her eyes fluttered shut as she savored her first taste. "Perfect."

Chloe watched in amusement. "You certainly know how to make an entrance, don't you?"

Lois opened her eyes and held the container out toward Chloe. "Want some?"

"Sure."

Clark grimaced as Chloe took one of the plastic spoons and scooped out a heaping bite. "Uh, Chloe…"

His warning was too late, though, as Chloe's facial expressions reacted to the taste of pickles, anchovy bits, and strawberries mixed in mint ice cream. She darted over to the sink and spit the offending taste from her mouth.

"What the hell is that?"

Lois looked sorrowfully at the lost spoonful of her treat. "See if I offer to share with you again," she remarked around another spoonful.

Chloe looked at her as if she had antennas growing from her head and ducked her head into the sink so she could run some water from the tap over her tongue. When she was done, she straightened up and glared at Clark. 

Biting back a laugh, Clark pointed to the bag. "There's some Funky Monkey in there too."

Chloe held both hands in front of her and shook her head. "I think I'll pass… I'll just get something safe… like… bread." She shuddered involuntarily and watched in awe as Lois zealously scraped the bottom of the carton.

Clark put the other container of ice cream in the freezer and turned to face the cousins again. "So, what did I miss?"

Chloe pulled her eyes from Lois. "Besides her eating everything she can reach?" she asked, jerking a thumb in Lois's direction.

"Hey! I'm in the blossoming stage, thank you."

"Blooming," Chloe corrected.

"Whatever."

Clark smiled at their exchange. Whatever the stage was called, its effects were appreciated. In the few days he'd been away, Lois had become a little curvier. His fingers ached to pull up the baggy shirt she wore so he could see if there had been any developments in the baby area.

"Well, I went to my first child birthing class," Chloe remarked, pulling Clark out of his reverie.

"You would bring that up, wouldn't you?" Lois groaned, tossing her empty ice cream container in the trash.

Clark looked to Chloe for an explanation of Lois's reaction.

"We watched a birthing video…"

Lois scoffed. "Delivery From Hell; I swear that was the title." She faced both of her roommates. "Take a note: drugs and heavy sedation. In fact, just knock me out and take the kid by force."

She paled at the memory of the doctor using forceps on the patient in the video. "Say it with me: Lois wants to be unconscious."

"She's a little freaked," Chloe whispered.

"Freaked!" Lois spun to face Clark. "Do you know what happens with an episiotomy?"

"Lois, you know Renee said that doesn't have to happen every time…"

"You must not know my karma count," Lois replied. "I am a walking billboard for Murphy's Law!"

"The other thing we talked about in class was the effect of stress on the expecting mother," Chloe stated, neatly redirecting the conversation. "Normally, the hormones brought on by a pregnancy make the mother less prone to stress, but major physical trauma or emotional duress could have a detrimental effect."

Lois rolled her eyes, knowing that Chloe had just given Clark enough of an excuse to start treating her like a fragile china doll. "I've got to pee."

When Lois disappeared into the hall, Chloe faced Clark with a baffled expression. "How did you get here without the turbo booster?"

Clark had given her very limited information when she'd cornered him about his lack of powers back in Smallville.

"I did what normal people do," Clark replied. "I took the bus."

Chloe could tell that he still wasn't in the mood to reveal everything to her. With a sigh, she decided that she would just have to be patient. "Did you bring the security discs from the Talon?"

Clark nodded and gestured toward the living room. "They're out there in my bag."

"I have an idea that I wanted to run by you," Chloe started. "I was talking to Lex earlier today and I remembered that he went through that memory retrieval program a few years ago… That might work for Lois."

Clark stiffened, remembering his own altercation at the Summerholt Institute. Around four years ago, in an attempt to stop Lex from undergoing the procedure so he wouldn't remember learning Clark's secret, Clark had become a victim himself. In the end, Lex hadn't recovered the memory of Clark's powers, and had become an ally when he freed Clark from the kryptonite infused-matrix before he could be further compromised.

"The doctor leading that project died," Clark recalled.

"Dr. Gardner, yes," Chloe said with a nod. "But the research continued, and now a Dr. Chambert is running that section of the facility."

"It could be dangerous."

Chloe's eyes narrowed at Clark's objection. She wondered if Lois fully regaining her memory was dangerous because it threatened the picture-perfect family he was building in his mind.

"Every risky decision has an element of danger," Chloe offered quietly.

"Exactly," Lois agreed, stepping into the kitchen. "And it can't hurt anything to look into it, right?"

Clark turned around startled at her voice. He was still getting used to the fact that he couldn't sense people like he used to be able to do.

"Maybe this isn't the best time to be doing all of this," he inserted. "I mean, you've got a lot going on right now…"

"I didn't say I was going to do it," Lois replied. "I'd just like to know what my options are." Her eyes pleaded with Clark to understand. "It may not be the right thing for me, but I've got to try something… I need some answers."

She turned to address her cousin. "If you can get me in to see this Chambert guy…"

Chloe nodded. "Say no more, I'm on it." Her gaze flicked to Clark and she could see the worry in his expression as he looked at Lois. Answers would be good for all of them.

Chloe raised her brows and grinned in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Why don't we take a look at those security tapes?"

* * *

"We've got to be missing something," Lois said with a sigh.

Chloe frowned at the television screen as the three of them watched Lois leave the Talon for the night. Even though they had watched her shift on the night in question in fast forward, it had still taken a considerable amount of time.

From what she had seen, the day had gone normally. Lois had dished up coffee and muffins, taken payments, made change, and closed the coffee shop just as she had assumed. If there was any foul play involved in Lois's behavior that night, it certainly hadn't happened during her shift.

"Maybe one of the other discs has something of interest on it," Chloe offered.

Lois fought off a yawn. "No. I don't think I can sit through another one tonight." She was a bit disappointed that there hadn't been something glaringly obvious on the screen. It would have helped matters so much more if the video feed had shown a guy flirting with her or some type of interaction with someone she knew.

Taking the remote from Chloe, Lois leaned forward with renewed determination. "There's got to be something…" she muttered, hitting the rewind button.

"Wait!" Clark said, grabbing for the remote and hitting Pause. Lois hadn't pressed Stop, so the video had begun playing in reverse. "I thought I saw something."

Chloe glanced at him with a creased brow. For a few seconds she had thought that his special vision had allowed him to see something that no human eye could see… but then she had remembered that Clark was now a regular guy. She turned back to the screen.

"What? I didn't see anything."

Clark pressed the Play button and watched the feed in forward motion again. On the screen, Lois started walking across the Talon toward the door.

"Watch the door," Clark advised, rewinding the scene again so they could follow his instructions. While watching earlier, their attention had been automatically focused on Lois as the main object of interest in the video.

Both Lois and Chloe squinted at the screen.

"There," Clark pointed and paused the video again. "Look… It's a reflection, I think."

Chloe gave him an odd look, wondering how he had caught something that she hadn't seen. In the past she had always been the observant one. She wouldn't have expected super-powered Clark to pay attention to the details, but maybe his lack of abilities was making him work harder.

Lois's voice pulled her from her train of thought. "I see it."

Chloe looked back to the screen. The reflection showed a distorted image of a face. It looked like someone could have been waiting for Lois after work that night.

"Were you supposed to be meeting anyone?"

Lois frowned in thought at Chloe's question. "No… I don't think so." She tried to force her mind back to the night but only drew blanks. Finally, she shook her head and shrugged. "Maybe if it were clearer I could see if I recognized who it is…"

That gave Chloe an idea. "I think I know someone who could help us with that," she remarked. "I'll take it to him first thing in the morning."

"Good," Lois said, finally giving in to the yawn. She gestured to the stack of five discs next to the DVD player that showed additional footage from the days leading up to the one they had just watched. "See if he can put together a greatest hits video from all of that so we don't have to watch them."

* * *

Clark's deep slumber was interrupted by the sounds of clanking from the kitchen. Rising from the futon, he padded into the room to see what was happening.

His eyebrows rose as he took in the sight before him. It looked to him like everything that had once been in the refrigerator was now strewn about on every available counter surface. The limited spaces that weren't covered with vegetables and dairy items were white from a dusting of flour.

Lois's head appeared as she came to an upright position after kneeling on the floor while searching for a pot in a bottom cupboard.

"Good Morning," she greeted. Nibbling on her bottom lip, she frowned at a container of mushrooms.

Clark noted that the flour wasn't just on the counter. Lois's hair was streaked white with powder, and the stolen flannel shirt that she wore had numerous white handprints where she had undoubtedly put her hands on her hips.

"What are you doing?" he asked worriedly when she reached for the large knife that was lying nearby.

"Cooking," Lois replied curtly. She blew her bangs out of her face and reached for a handful of mushrooms.

"Cooking?" Clark choked. "Why, um… why would you want to do that?"

Lois glared at him and lifted the knife above her shoulder, lowering it in a quick chopping motion. Clark's hand shot out to grab the piece of mushroom that flew at his head.

Tossing the chunk in the sink, he walked closer and gazed at the various ingredients surrounding her. "What are you making?"

Lois began chopping with a more controlled motion. "Beef Wellington."

Clark frowned. "For breakfast?"

Lois began laughing and moved her small pile of chopped mushrooms to the side of the cutting board. "Breakfast? It's 12:30. That's lunchtime in countries where people don't sleep half of the day away."

"12:30?" Clark ran a hand through his hair. Since he'd lost his powers, he had been experiencing more fatigue than he was accustomed to.

"Umm-hmm," Lois confirmed. "I guess you _can_ take the farm out of the boy after all."

"I didn't know you needed flour for Beef Wellington," Clark remarked, noticing that the path of flour continued on the floor.

"It does when you make the pastry from scratch!" Lois announced triumphantly.

"From scratch?" Clark looked doubtful at the numerous ingredients he'd never linked with the recipe. "Have you ever done this before?" He searched for the evidence of a cookbook in the midst of the mess.

Lois rolled her eyes. "It's time to try new things, Clark. Live a little."

Clark gulped as Lois threw slices of American cheese into the pot she had recovered earlier. Living was going to be hard if Lois was experimenting with the cooking.

Lois grinned at him and reached for a green pepper. "I have an extra apron."

* * *

"That doesn't look good," Lois commented as a large brown bubble rose from the pot on the oven.

Clark eyed the bubble warily as it continued to grow. "I don't think you were supposed to use cornstarch."

"Cornstarch doesn't make stuff do that…" Lois arched an eyebrow and grimaced. "It's gonna blow."

Clark looked around for anything he could use in battle against Lois's creation. "Stand back, I'll save you!" he shouted mockingly as he brandished a wooden spoon.

Lois grabbed the boiler top and dropped in onto the pot just as the bubble seemed to tremble. Laughing, Clark reached to turn the oven off.

"That was close," Lois said with a relieved sigh. The last thing she needed was brown goo all over the kitchen when they had just finished cleaning up her earlier chaos.

Clark shook his head. "Well, I guess we won't be eating that tonight."

"Or anything, for that matter," Lois quipped, peering at the dismal contents of the refrigerator. She had to admit that she'd gotten a little carried away when gathering the ingredients.

She closed the door and turned to lean against it. Clark smiled in appreciation of the image she created standing there. She had changed out of her flour coated clothes into one of his shirts over a tee shirt and some large sweatpants that had the legs rolled up.

"What is it?" Lois asked. She frowned as she reached up to feel her hair thinking that an Alfalfa-like cowlick may have been the reason for his stare.

"You look… nice."

Lois gave him an odd look before smiling and looking down at her belly. "Cool it, Ronaldo."

Clark brightened and moved closer. "Can I?" he asked, his hand hovering near her abdomen.

Lois nodded and Clark lowered his hand to her stomach. After a few moments he shrugged and started to move his hand.

"Hold on," Lois instructed, placing her hand over his and moving it to the side of her bulge. "Wait… there. Did you feel it?"

Clark was too busy grinning to answer her. "Gooooaaaaal!"

Lois laughed and slapped his hand away. "Don't encourage her."

Clark squatted so his face could be near her stomach. "Hey, Peanut."

"What are you doing?" Lois asked in amusement.

Clark tilted his head back to look up at her. "I'm talking to the baby."

Rolling his eyes he returned to his previous task. "Listen, you need to get in as many kicks as possible, because once you get out here and have to eat her food, you'll wish you could… believe me!"

Lois scoffed at his warning but didn't say anything. As Clark started talking about the finer techniques of dribbling a soccer ball, she felt a chill climb slowly up her spine. There was something oddly affecting about Clark talking softly to her belly. Sure, she did it all the time… but still…

Acting of its own volition, her right hand rose to lightly brush his hair. Clark's words faltered and he lifted his eyes to meet hers. They remained frozen like that for a beat until Lois eyes widened in delayed shock.

"I need some clothes," Lois blurted, snatching her hand back as if it had been burned.

Clark slowly stood up. "What?"

"Shopping!" Lois repeated, exasperated. "None of my clothes fit anymore."

She pushed herself from the refrigerator and strode out of the kitchen. Clark blinked and released a slow breath. He wondered if he had imagined the heated sparkle in her eyes. Shaking his head, he decided that he must have… It was safer than the alternative.

Lois poked her head into the kitchen to see what the hold-up was. "Heads up," she called as she tossed him her key ring.

"I'm going shopping too?" He was totally confused by the whirlwind that was Lois Lane.

She gave him a sly smile. "Someone has to carry the bags."

Clark nodded at her back as he moved to follow her to the front door. "I guess that someone would be me."

* * *

"Tell me that is not a flannel onesie."

Clark grinned and rubbed his hand over the blue plaid fabric. "I think it's cute."

Lois groaned and turned her attention back to the small outfits that were hanging on the rack in front of her. She thought it was cute too, but she would never admit it.

After only finding muumuus at the first department store they had gone to, Lois had dragged Clark to a specialty store called Modern Maternity. The store planners had been crafty in their design scheme; splitting the store in half and putting baby and infant paraphernalia opposite the adult clothing. There was no way to go inside with out being drawn to the racks of baby clothes.

She held up a jumper for Clark to see.

"I don't really like green," he remarked.

Lois shook her head and returned the garment to the rack. "Well, if we were to go by your wardrobe, we'd never get beyond primary colors, would we?"

Clark smiled and set the baby onesie back on the stack. "My wardrobe looks pretty good on you."

Lois arched an eyebrow. "Speaking of… I'm going to go look at the clothes that match _my_ size."

Clark laughed and followed when Lois turned and walked across the aisle.

"Now this is more like it."

Clark looked at the white and red long sleeved jr raglan tee shirt that she was holding. Letters written in glitter across the front of the shirt declared that the wearer was a "Hot Mama."

"Really?" Clark asked.

Lois chuckled and began looking for more shirts.

"Pink or blue?"

Lois glanced up at his question. "For what?"

"For the baby."

Understanding what he was asking, she shook her head. "It's a surprise."

"Do you know?" Clark pouted at the twinkle in her eye.

He had missed the last doctor's appointment when he was in Smallville. Sandy had mentioned the week before that they should be able to learn the gender of the baby at the next meeting.

"It's a surprise," Lois repeated. "Oh!" she exclaimed, seeing that Clark was standing in front of a rack of jeans. She pushed him to the side and pulled out a pair of jeans. "I love this store."

She began piling clothes into Clark's arms.

"Lois, seriously… Did you find out?" He shifted as the pile of clothes began sliding out of his arms.

"I told them that I didn't want to know." Lois took a couple more pairs of jeans from the rack and headed toward the changing rooms.

Clark sighed and followed behind her. He grudgingly admitted to himself that it was up to Lois to decide if she wanted to be surprised at the birth or not.

"Stay right there," Lois instructed him as she stepped into one of the stalls and closed the door.

Clark glanced around but didn't see a chair so he leaned against the door. "How did the appointment go?"

"Pretty well," she replied, her voice coming over the door. "Chloe and I solved the mystery of my major back pain…"

He stumbled when the door was opened behind him. Lois was barefoot and had stripped off the sweat pants she had been wearing earlier. She took the rest of the items that Clark was holding. "The others didn't fit," she explained, closing the door again.

Clark swallowed and remained transfixed for a moment. Suddenly he was glad that Lois was getting new clothes. Seeing her with nothing but his flannel shirt draped over a tee shirt was distracting.

Clearing his throat, he refocused his attention on what they had been talking about earlier. "So, what is the story with the back pain?"

"Oh," came Lois's muffled reply. "The baby was positioned in the rear of my uterus and the growth was causing pressure on all the wrong nerves. The pain shouldn't be as severe now that the Peanut has decided to shift forward."

The door swung open again and Lois held her arms to the side. "I'm a little depressed that I have to buy pants with 'maternity hips.' What do you think?"

Lois was wearing a long white shirt that came down to the inseam of her stonewashed jeans. She had put on a brown shirt of shorter length over the white shirt and it rested just over her small bulge. He noticed for the first time that her belly button was poking out. The entire picture was a mix of Lois and mommy… and he loved it.

"I think… uh… wow."

Lois granted him a soft smile. "Good answer."

Just then, her phone began to ring and she bent to pull it out of her purse.

"Hey, Chlo," she greeted, having learned the identity of the caller from the display.

"We're out at Siegel Mills Mall," she said after a pause, answering her cousin's question.

Clark listened with interest to the one sided conversation. They had both been expecting some news from Chloe about the image on the security video. When Lois gestured for Clark to enter the stall, he looked around with wide eyes and pointed to his chest questioningly. Lois rolled her eyes and pulled him inside, mouthing for him to help her while pointing to her jeans.

Clark reached to help her stand upright as she struggled to step out of the jeans while keeping the phone to her ear.

After a moment, she released a breath. "No, that's great… I can't believe he was able to do that so quickly… but then again, look who we're talking about."

Clark frowned at her words. He had no idea what the cousins were discussing. Lois draped the jeans over Clark's shoulder and pulled on her sweat pants.

"Okay. Yeah, we'll meet you there."

She hung up the phone and replaced it in her bag. "Turn around."

Clark noticed that she was starting to take off her shirt. "I can just go back out…" he stammered.

"Just turn around, Smallville."

"That was Chloe," Lois announced unnecessarily when his back was turned.

"Oh, yeah?" Clark concentrated on the pattern of wood grain on the door in front of him to keep from thinking about Lois changing behind him.

She gave him a small push from behind to indicate that she was ready to leave the room. Clark awkwardly pulled at the door, stepping backwards into Lois as he moved to make room for it to swing open. Lois started laughing at his clumsiness as they exited the stall.

Clark waved sheepishly at the woman who was entering the stall next to theirs. She seemed to be amused by the sight of them stumbling out of the changing room together. "Hi."

Lois grinned at the woman and pulled Clark toward the cash register. She had kept some of the clothes that she hadn't tried on yet in addition to the outfit Clark had seen. "Chloe's waiting for us to meet her."

Clark pulled the jeans off of his shoulder and handed them to the clerk. "Where are we going?"

"Summerholt."

* * *

Chloe was waiting for Lois and Clark in front of the main doors when they walked up after parking the car. Clark looked around warily as they entered the building's main lobby. The facility had undergone major changes since the last time he'd been there. Before, it had looked more like a high tech engineering firm than a medical institute. Now, instead of the stark chrome surfaces and aluminum walls, white paint and wood panels softened the atmosphere.

He hoped that the change was more than superficial.

After checking in, the receptionist directed them to the elevator bank that would take them to the 4th floor. They were told that Dr. Chambert would meet them there.

"I dropped the security tapes off with Jack this morning," Chloe informed them as they sat in the waiting area. "He's got some program that he's been working on that he thinks could help with that image on the door. He said that he would call me when he had something for us to look at."

Lois nodded, leaned back into her chair, and tried to put her mind at ease. "How were you able to get me in on such short notice?"

"Lex called in a few favors."

"Of course," Lois replied with a smile.

"What does that mean?" Chloe asked. There was something hidden in Lois's smile.

"I just wonder if it was a favor for you or a favor for me," Lois retorted.

Clark looked between the two as Chloe rolled her eyes and changed the subject.

"How did the cooking go today?"

"I think we're going to need to stop for food on the way home," Lois replied with a shrug.

* * *

Dr. Chambert was a tall man with thinning brown hair. He rarely wore his white lab coat, but it seemed to lend credibility to his title when he met with new patients. He fixed the collar on the jacket as he entered the waiting area.

Seeing the three people seated there, he noted their positions and guessed that his patient was the one seated in the middle. It was almost obvious that the blonde haired woman and the young man were protective of the young woman between them.

"Lois Lane?"

Lois nodded and stood. "Yes, that's me."

"I'm Dr. Chambert. Why don't you and your friends follow me and I'll take you back to my office."

* * *

**TBC**

* * *


	13. TWELVE

**

* * *

TWELVE**

* * *

_

* * *

-- **Est. Time Remaining: 17:46:52** --_

Enning "Fitz" Fitzpatrick smoothed his red hair nervously, glad that the stern gaze of Professor Lysander Kairo was no longer focused on him. He turned to ensure that the man was no longer in the lab before facing his best friend and colleague. "What do you think he meant by that 'object is not an object' speech?"

Xavir sighed and pulled a stool over to Fitz's workstation to sit on. Fitz's computer screen showed a 3D model of a wave that represented the movements and changes in the time plane. Normally the time stream was constant; a flat line stretching from the past to the future, but events in the last few days had caused a treacherous flux. The wave was building steadily, bringing the past dangerously close to the future.

As scientists in the year 2109, Fitz and Xavir only had Manheim's Theory of Time Synching to work from, and even Manheim had been uncertain of the effects of time travel. Xavir noted that the countdown displayed via the large view-screen on the far wall of the lab was just under 18 hours.

The wave had started when the past had entered into the future; Time was unforgiving of overlap and had begun its chase to reconcile. Now, the wave was continuing because the mishap had not been corrected.

Something hidden had gone back, and the time stream would not be stable until it returned.

"Conception," Xavir said, answering Fitz's inquiry. The stowaways on his little time jump into the past had taken back a souvenir.

"Yeah, I thought that was what he meant too." Fitz glanced at his computer screen warily. "Why didn't he seem angrier about that?"

Xavir frowned as he considered the question. His first thought in reply was that Kairo had been expecting him to fail… he always did.

"I don't know," he responded instead. There were other things to think about. "But what I do know is that there's not supposed to be a baby. As long as it exists in the same timeline as the parents, the wave will keep growing until it collides…"

"…And life as we know it will cease," Fitz finished in a foreboding tone.

Xavir gave him an exasperated look. Sometimes things sounded more optimistic when you didn't voice them aloud.

"Sorry." Fitz shrugged. "It just felt like a good time to say that."

"This is serious."

"I know! You know I hate life-and-death situations. I tend to use awkward humor when I get nervous."

Xavir forced himself to stop wringing his hands and wearily brushed a hand over his dark hair. He could commiserate with his friends nervous habits. He had a few of his own. "Think about it… Lois would have suddenly found out she was pregnant and wouldn't have remembered how. People used to terminate pregnancies for less cause 100 years ago. Maybe…"

"The wave would have stopped," Fitz corrected. "And we need to remember that it's possible for the Rethrick Memory Sequencing procedure to start attempting to reverse itself."

"Why would you think that?"

"Remember when you told me that they started remembering things that hadn't happened for them yet?" When Xavir nodded, Fitz continued with his theory. "Well, with the past and future coming together like this, I can only imagine that the memories we erased will eventually be put back."

Xavir's shoulders dropped at the new information.

"And if that is the case, then I have to think that the effect would be different on Lois than it would be on the others – since it's essentially her molecular buildup that is being affected by the future entity being carried inside of her."

Xavir nodded dejectedly. This theory wasn't making the situation look any better. "How different?"

"If it happens… and that is a big if… I'd wager that Lois is the only one who will start to remember anything while she's pregnant; probably more and more with time. As for the others…" Fitz shrugged. There was really no way to know.

Xavir glanced at the view-screen again, his panic rising. "We sent them back when the countdown was around 20:35… how much time do you think has passed for them?"

Fitz made some invisible marks on the table top with his finger as he mentally did the calculations. "Hypothetically… I'd say they've gone…" he released a breath as he thought it over again. "In 2006 hours... almost seven months."

"Sakat," Xavir swore under his breath. In what had been a mere few hours for him, half of a year had gone by for his former fellow time-warpers.

"But I can't be sure about that," the red-headed scientist entered. "I mean, from the change in time that you experienced during your jump, we know that the past moves much quicker than the present… or future, depending on your perspective. But even that is changing."

He pointed to the 3D projection. "I think it is speeding up. It's a multiplication of an infinitesimal degree right now, but if you multiply minuscule by minuscule enough times… it can get big."

Fitz noticed that his friend's face suddenly grew pale, almost matching Fitz's natural complexion. The chalky pallor was unusual to see on Xavir's olive skin. "What?"

"We used the last of the Llecom complex when we sent Lois, Chloe and Clark back."

"We still have the batch we were working on up here."

"I thought they couldn't get it stabilized," Xavir replied anxiously.

"We couldn't… or we can't," Fitz concurred. "But whoever gave you that extra copy of the stuff might know how to stabilize it quickly… or they might have some more lying around."

Fitz had been patient in not asking about Xavir's mysterious adventure to find Lois and Clark when they had been lost somewhere on Terra, the name everyone aboard the Space Station that housed the Centre used to refer to Earth's surface. He had figured that his friend would tell him everything once they had gotten the situation under control.

Now, though, the situation seemed to be spiraling in the opposite direction. It was time for some answers… and some help.

Xavir's eyes seemed to search the room for spies. He knew that Kairo would be watching him closely now that he had rebelled against his authority once. If there was ever a time to be discreet and careful, it was now. Unfortunately, what he needed to do didn't allow the luxury of caution.

"I have to go back to the surface."

* * *

"Sir, I have that update you requested." 

Professor Kairo looked up from his padd and waved for Merrick to come fully into the office. "What do we have?"

Merrick stood in front of the desk and locked his hands behind him. "The lab is still working on getting the Llecom complex stabilized."

"Have we recovered the padd Xavir Christian used to make the last transfer?"

"Not yet, but we know that it was definitely a copy. Station six has just finished the repairs on the original Delor8. Once the Llecom is inserted, we will be able to use it for the time jump."

The Professor steepled his fingers under his chin as he processed the information. His illegitimate son had caused quite a stir by testing the Centre's time synching technology before it was approved. Xavir had always been trying to prove something, but up until now, his actions had been harmless. This time, his impish quest for attention could cost all of them their lives.

Kairo _was_ aware, however, that Xavir had stumbled onto something that could turn out to be useful to him. The existence of the Guardians was something that had been rumored but never proven and he knew that Xavir had found them. In the end, the son leads the father to his glory… he just had to wait. The underground alliance had always managed to stay one step ahead of the Centre, and soon he would be able to put an end to their interference.

Without doubt, there was plenty to be concerned about on the other hand. The wave hadn't stopped building and if it wasn't halted, the timeline would collapse. The problem was that the child that Lois Lane was no doubt carrying had been conceived in the future. The child's existence during its parent's native timeline was what needed to be rectified. The future and the past could not continue on their separate paths if one was embedded within the other. The solution was clear. The pregnancy needed to be terminated.

"Inform the team working on the Llecom complex that they will need to go faster. I want to know the second they are set to go online. When they do, we're going to need a Jump Team ready for departure. There will be no time for debriefing then, so I want you to have their training commence immediately."

"Yes, Sir." The muscular man started to turn for the exit.

"And Merrick?"

"Sir?"

"Christian is going to try to jump ship again. I want you to allow it, but make sure we have a tracker on him. I want to know where he is, what he sees, and what he hears from here on out. I'm on pins to meet his new friends."

Merrick nodded curtly and left the room.

When he was alone, the Professor turned his attention back to the padd on his desk. Their estimates showed that the pregnancy was nearing the third trimester. If they weren't able to facilitate a jump in the next hour, the child would be born and things would get a little more complicated. Kairo wasn't too bothered by that possibility though. His grandfather had taught him that complications were things to be engaged, not avoided.

Chaos was the only constant in the universe, and it was better to learn to ride its waves than to attempt to restrain them.

* * *

"I asked you to print my assignment, not to edit it," Lois whispered, holding up the report folder that the professor had handed her a few moments before. 

On the front page, Dr. North had praised her improved spelling and rhetoric.

"I just fixed a few things." Clark smiled and shrugged. "There's no 'w' in quasi."

She seemed to consider that for a moment before glaring at him. "Edits are what editors are for. Besides, who made you the grammar police?"

Clark started to answer but stopped when his own writing assignment was handed back to him. Seeing his expression change, Lois reached out and took it from him. The comments from Dr. North encouraged Clark to stretch himself to find more interesting topics.

"I told you that no one wanted to read about the mating rituals of the Knob-Tailed Gecko," she reminded him, handing the folder back.

"We had to use Scientific American as the only source," he explained dejectedly. "There wasn't that much to go on."

"You could have chosen the cloning article," Lois threw over her shoulder as she reached down to slide her folder into her bag.

"I could have… if you hadn't gotten there first."

Lois shrugged and awkwardly started to push herself up from her chair. Within seconds, Clark was behind her, helping her up.

It had been a surprise when Clark had shown up in her Reporting 1A course. The decision to take the class had been an easy one for her as she had found that she really enjoyed her work as a junior reporter. She couldn't help but be proud that she was good at finding the clues that other people overlooked.

The class had been going on for four weeks and already people were starting to refer to Lois and Clark as a unit. Lois didn't try to correct the misperception. She knew that eventually Clark would start venturing out into his own life and wouldn't be around as much, but for now, she was content to have her two best friends tucked snugly at her side.

She was nearing the end of her 6th month of pregnancy and the ordeal of fighting indigestion, stretch marks and aching legs was getting old. In addition to constantly feeling exhausted, her nerves were getting shorter. If another person walked up and tried to rub her belly like she was a lamp with a genie inside, she was going to deck them.

There were other things to worry about as well, like how much longer to keep her job at the Planet, and whether or not she and Chloe could keep the family housing if she didn't attend the second session of summer school. There was also the fact that she needed to start pricing cribs… not to mention that little side project she had of trying to recover her memories so she could find the father of her child.

Life was anything but uncomplicated right now.

"Are you okay?"

Lois blinked from her thoughts and looked at Clark. They were now walking in the courtyard outside of Neiman Hall. She had completely zoned out their departure from the classroom.

"You've got to stop asking me that. I'm fine."

Clark nodded his agreement. He knew he had to try to be less anxious as Lois's disposition seemed to be affected by just about everything; especially the moods of he and Chloe.

"Okay," he said, handing her bag to her outside the Weintz Art Building. Reporting 1A was the only course they shared. "I'll see you later, all right?"

Lois rolled her eyes and started walking into the building, once again thankful that there were no stairs to manage in this building since it was one of the campus's newer structures.

Clark watched her merge into the stream of people entering the building before breaking into a jog. His Ancient History class was in a building on the other side of the grassy commons area that Met U students referred to as the Mall.

He, Lois and Chloe had been surprised to hear that the procedure Dr. Chambert wanted her to undergo was the equivalent of memory regression through hypnosis. None of them had expected a large and technologically advanced facility like Summerholt to place much confidence in such a practice, but the doctor had assured them that it was the safest procedure to use during pregnancy.

After much deliberation, Lois had agreed to the treatment and even though she hadn't expected much, it had still been a disappointment when no memories had been magically restored. Dr. Chambert had explained that it would take time, and ensured her that they could try some of the more invasive procedures after the baby was born. The word 'invasive' made Clark oddly uncomfortable with the whole thing.

That wasn't the only thing that had Clark worried though. He'd been without his powers for over a month now, and a conversation with his parents had brought him back to reality about his new humanity after his initial euphoria. His father had reminded him that Jor-El was never one to let things go, and that this change in Clark's life probably came with heavy circumstances.

Since then, Clark had realized that those circumstances could very well mean that someone around him might be Jor-El's next target. The idea wasn't a given, but it made him a little more anxious about the people he cared for. After all, without his powers, he couldn't run in and save the day like he used to.

Chloe understood his increased apprehension but the change seemed to annoy Lois. She couldn't fathom why he was constantly calling to check up on her, Chloe, and his parents during his every free moment.

In Lois's mind, his prediction of doom was just like opening the door and inviting it in.

* * *

Lois reclined on one of the red couches in the Student Center and gazed longingly at the coffee cup a fellow student sipped from as he walked by. She had recently started becoming sick at the smell of roasted beans, and it hurt her heart to not be able to enjoy what had once been her life's blood. She just hoped that her aversion to the smell of coffee would end with her pregnancy. Some things were just too good to go without. 

"Hey, Babe."

Lois rolled her eyes as Clark dropped onto the couch next to her. She knew that he wasn't addressing her.

"Did you learn anything in mommy's class today?"

"Where is my Butterfinger?" Lois asked, purposely interrupting Clark's conversation with her stomach.

Clark reached into his paper bag and pulled out a small package of carrots. "They were fresh out."

Lois smirked, bypassing his nutritious offer as she reached into the bag and found her candy bar. Clark knew better than to deny a pregnant woman of her chocolate.

"So, I have a suggestion for a name."

Lois gave him a worried look as she chewed. "Okay. Go ahead."

"Clark."

She started laughing. "And if it's a girl?"

He frowned for a moment and shrugged. "Clark."

"I'll take that into consideration. Thank you."

"Hey, I just wanted to put it out there," he replied lightly, joining in on her laughter.

* * *

Chloe's eyes searched the commons area of the Student Center as she reached up to tug the strap of her backpack back onto her shoulder. Her lips curled slightly as she located her friends in the sitting area near the bay windows at the rear of the main room. Behind them, glass doors led to a concrete patio where more tables were available for students to study or lounge at. 

Lois and Clark were sitting close together on one of the couches with their heads tilted towards each other as they laughed about something one of them had said. Both of them thought that they were being aloof about their relationship, but ironically they were the only ones who couldn't see that they were already an item.

Chloe saw evidence of it everyday in their interactions and she was now fully in on board with the two becoming involved. In fact, she was looking forward to seeing them evolve. She knew that they would be good together… but before that could happen they had other issues to deal with.

Clark's fear of one of his loved ones being used as his lesson in human frailty was making him borderline paranoid. In addition, Chloe still felt that he wouldn't be able to have a true relationship with anyone until he was willing to reveal his secrets; whether those secrets still held or not. As for Lois, Chloe knew that her cousin wouldn't be able to let herself go freely into any man's heart until she knew the circumstances behind the conception of her child.

Knowing all of that, Chloe's mission was to help them get past those obstacles so they could finally be true to themselves… and to each other.

Chloe made her way to the couch, smiling to herself when Lois and Clark didn't register that she was standing next to them.

"Can I rub your belly?" Chloe asked, having heard Lois's numerous complaints on the topic.

"Chloe!" Lois exclaimed, surprised that she hadn't noticed her cousin there before. She patted the seat next to her as an invitation for Chloe to sit. "Take a load off."

Chloe dropped her bag onto the floor and sat down next to her cousin. They had planned to meet on campus so they could go to Lois's child birthing class together.

"Can anyone remind me why I need to take Calculus if I'm going to be a writer?" Chloe asked, leaning over to take a carrot from the bag Clark was holding.

"I think I read somewhere that Mathematics is the language of the universe," Lois said. "So maybe a calc background will make it easier to talk to your aliens."

Chloe and Clark shared a quick glance as they laughed lightly at Lois's joke.

"I'm just going to call and check in with my folks. I'll be right back," Clark told them, standing and walking out onto the patio.

"What's going on with him?" Lois asked, her eyes on Clark with his phone to his ear as he paced to and fro on the other side of the bay windows.

"Nothing. Why would anything be going on?"

Lois turned to face her cousin. "I know that he can be all shades of anal on occasion, but he has been over the top lately. Has something happened?"

Chloe tugged on a lock of hair and shrugged.

Lois knew her cousin's gestures almost as well as she knew her own. She was immediately concerned. "It's not Mr. Kent is it?"

Lois knew that Mr. Kent had a history of heart problems. She also knew that since learning about the dangers of stress on pregnancies, Clark had been going out of his way to keep her calm… much to her chagrin. If anything major had happened, Lois knew that Clark would try to keep it from her as long as possible.

"No," Chloe responded quickly. "Mr. Kent is fine. Clark is just… worried about… stuff. But you don't need to be."

Lois's eyes narrowed. It was obvious that Clark had gotten to Chloe. Now she was in on his 'less-stress-is-best' plan.

"Mom and Dad say hello," Clark informed them, returning to his seat.

"What did your mom have to say about that picture we emailed? Did anyone from the Talon recognize the guy?" Chloe inquired.

Chloe's friend Jack from the Planet would have been a black belt computer wiz if they gave out black belts for that stuff. He had used some fancy computer coding that was well beyond Chloe's expertise to create a crystal clear black-and-white image of the face reflected in the Talon's glass door. The picture was so nice that it could have been sent out as a headshot to gain an audition for one of those new primetime television teen dramas.

In addition to creating the photo, Jack had taken the rest of the security videos and pulled screen caps of the mystery man from every time he had entered the coffee shop. To the surprise of the three friends, the man had been inside the shop numerous times during the few days worth of footage they had. Lois didn't recognize him and neither did Martha, but Martha had promised to put a copy of the photo up on the bulletin board to see if anyone would be able to shine some light on his identity.

"Mom said that she hadn't gotten any responses to the flyer yet and none of the staff remember him," Clark answered. "But you can't really blame them for not remembering every person that comes in the store."

His comment was for his own benefit as much as it was for Lois's. There were a few occasions when the only person of the group that was in the Talon when the man was around was Clark and even he had never paid him any attention. There was no guarantee that the stranger had anything to do with what happened to Lois; in fact it was extremely unlikely that he did, but it still bothered him that something had gone under his radar. He realized that he had to start paying more attention to his surroundings.

"Well, maybe he was just passing through town," Lois offered.

"Maybe," Chloe agreed. "But if we could find him and ask him about what he saw at the Talon that night, we may figure out where you went afterwards. Mr. X just may be our missing link."

"Mr. X?" Clark questioned.

Chloe shrugged in reply and Lois chuckled. "Everything has a crazy plot line around my dear cousin, the novelist."

In truth, Lois wished that it _were_ a crazy story that they were talking about instead of her life; a life that was currently an open book among the three friends - minus a few minor details.

Lois knew that it was silly, but there were a few things that she was making Chloe keep to herself - like the part about her waking up naked in Clark's bed all those months ago in Smallville. At first it was just embarrassing, but now it held a certain undertone that Lois was uncomfortable in bringing out. Lois really didn't see why it would be important for Clark to know that she had somehow lost a pair of pajama pants in the incident. No, this was the chapter that was for her and Chloe's eyes only.

Chloe didn't see any reason for Lois to feel awkward about the naked thing. In her opinion, all of them had essentially woken up in some strange situations over the years, calling their adventure after being possessed by witches as case and point. In that instance, not only had they woken up in a strange location that they hadn't remembered going to (the Kawatche Caves), but they were dressed in clothing they had never remembered purchasing.

Lois had figured that to be a once in a lifetime event and had told that to her cousin but Chloe said that the rules for 'once-in-a-lifetime' events didn't hold in Smallville. Chloe tried to calm her by saying that Clark woke up naked all the time- something Lois could vouch for since that was the way it was when they met for the first time. Chloe went on to refer to her own story of waking up in a strange place.

_"Remember that day we were going to meet at the farm and I took a wrong turn and ended up at the caves?"_

Lois had rolled her eyes, telling Chloe that waking up from a daydream was not the same and cautioned her to not let her thoughts stray too much while driving. Lois knew from experience what happened when people got distracted while sitting behind the wheel of a car. In the end, Chloe's argument hadn't been enough to convince Lois to bare all - metaphorically speaking. A girl had to be able to keep some things to herself.

Pulling back from her private thoughts, Lois nudged Clark with her elbow. "Help me up. We should be going. This could be the first time we make it to Renee's class on time."

As Clark stood to comply with her request, Chloe's eyes narrowed. Something was missing. "Who has the pillows?"

Lois glanced between the two and slowly shook her head. It looked like they were going to be late yet again.

* * *

Lois quietly pushed her bedroom door closed and walked to her desk, sitting in the seat she had vacated moments before. She ran a finger across the Family Tree page of the baby book she had been looking through and reached for her cell phone. 

A woman's voice answered after the second ring. "Hello?"

Lois hesitated briefly at the sound of the voice on the other end of the line. "…Hi, Mrs. Kent."

"Lois! Hi! I was just thinking about you."

Lois smiled. "Good stuff, I hope."

"Oh, of course. How are you doing? Clark's been telling me that you haven't been feeling the best lately."

"Oh no. I'm fine. Just pregnant. I'm really happy that my dad wouldn't let me get that dolphin tattoo on my stomach like I wanted to." General Lane's refusal had led her to get a different design in a much more private location, but he didn't need to know that.

"If I had, Flipper would probably look more like Shamu right now," Lois joked, relaxing a bit at the sound of Martha's laughter.

"We parents do have some good advice now and then."

"This isn't a bad time to call is it?"

"Not at all," Martha replied. "I was just sitting at the kitchen table looking through a magazine. Wow."

"What?"

"Well, your biggest fan just ran into the kitchen and is sitting and looking at me as if he is patiently waiting for his turn to talk to you. This dog has a sixth sense when it comes to you, Lois," she teased.

Lois chuckled. She was starting to miss that dog too… in a tiny, microcosmic way… but more than anything else, she missed the Kents and the family atmosphere she had grown to love.

She hadn't spoken to Mr. and Mrs. Kent since the last trip to Smallville when she had overheard Clark's talk with his parents. She figured that they had to be as relieved as she was that a marriage proposal hadn't been in his plans.

"How are you handling work and school?" Martha asked, naturally taking on the role of concerned mother. "The Junior Reporter position should be a good challenge after filing archives and making copies."

"It _is_ a nice challenge, actually," Lois replied. Lois was a little surprised at how much Martha knew. Apparently, she was a frequent subject of Clark's conversations with his mother. "I mean, I still am stuck with the job of checking facts and tying up loose ends, but at least with the new title I have a desk and I get to suggest story topics."

"I'm happy to hear that. Desks are always nice to have."

Lois decided that it was time to get to the purpose of her call. "I, uh, wanted to ask you something… I don't want you to feel that you have to say yes or anything. In fact, if you want to say no, I'll completely understand, because it isn't a big deal and it…"

"Lois," Martha interrupted gently. "What do want to ask?"

Lois took in a slow breath. "I got this book that I have been putting things down in, for the baby, you know. Just little stuff like first doctor's appointment, or first kick… and I was wondering if… Well, if you would be okay with me putting you down as Grandmother."

When there was nothing but silence after her question, Lois continued speaking. "I wouldn't expect you to _be_ an actual grandmother… I mean, you certainly don't look anything like a grandmother with the gray hair and glasses and stuff, and I know it would be weird to have you - not looking like a grandmother and all- being _called_ grandmother when you're not _really_ one…"

At the Kent Farm, Martha bit back a laugh and dabbed at a tear escaping from the corner of her eye as Lois prattled on. "Sweetie, I would love that… the title, the role, all of it."

"Oh," Lois said. "Okay." Her nerves seemed to make her response sound flat to her ears, so she tried again with a little more gusto. "I mean, thank you. I just… yeah."

Martha could tell that there was something more. "What about your mother?"

"I'm planning to put both names in the book… It's just with this whole memory loss and hypnosis stuff… it's becoming more and more of a possibility that I'll never know, and I don't want the baby to just have empty blanks."

Lois brushed the bangs off of her forehead and frowned. She wasn't really explaining it very well. "I just want to make sure that there's a family out there for him or her, even if it's not one in the traditional sense."

"I understand… and I'm honored."

Lois sighed in relief.

"What else?"

Lois's eyes widened in surprise at the question. She wondered if she would become as intuitive of a mother as Martha was. Her next request was in some ways bigger than the first. "We went to my birthing class tonight, and we are supposed to start creating a birth plan… I never expected to have homework for this… other than the baby, I mean."

"A birth plan?"

"They want me to start writing out everything that I want to have during labor. What to do for pain, what positions to lie in, what kind of music I want playing, who all will be in the room during the different stages… It's supposed to help me start preparing mentally, or something like that."

"Okay, well that sounds like a good thing to do."

"It is! It's just freaky as hell."

Martha started laughing again. "How can I help?"

"Do you think you could… be there?"

"Lois, of course we'll be there! You didn't think we would just wait for the phone call, did you? Jonathan and I have already planned to be in Metropolis the week you are due."

"No," Lois replied. The smile on her face felt like it was attached to her ears. "I meant, would you be willing to be inside the room… for the birth?"

Martha had to fight tears for the second time in their conversation. She had been so worried about the young woman that she had silently adopted as her daughter that she had been a little on edge since the moment Lois had left the farm the weekend her suspicions about the pregnancy had been confirmed. Watching Lois climb into the car, Martha had wanted to force her to stay at the farm with her so she would be able to keep her safe and close. There had been numerous times when she had almost jumped into the family's truck to bring her home, but she was painfully aware that Lois was an adult, and a level-headed one at that.

Instead, she had resorted to interrogating Clark every chance that she got, making sure that her girl was doing okay. When she and Lois had talked in Clark's room the last time Lois was home, she thought they had started to breach the divide a little, but then it seemed that Lois had started pulling away again. She instinctively knew that she was going to have to give Lois a little time and space, knowing that when she was ready she would come back home. She should have remembered that Lois always made a dramatic entrance.

Lois nibbled her bottom lip at the prolonged silence. "Mrs. Kent, are you there?"

"I'm still here, Honey. I will always be here."

* * *

**

* * *

TBC**

* * *


	14. THIRTEEN

**

* * *

THIRTEEN**

* * *

**

* * *

**

"I will be fine! Now go," Lois assured Clark. 

He was looking at her doubtfully from the sidewalk as she waved from the door. Behind him, Chloe was smirking at them from the driver's seat of her car.

"Clark, I talk to your mother every night. I'm sure she will let you know if anything comes up with me while you are at the farm. I can survive for two nights by myself."

"I could…" Clark started.

"You're not staying."

Chloe tapped the horn. "Come on, Clark!"

Clark nodded and released a sigh. "Okay. We're going… We'll be back Saturday night, okay?"

"Saturday. Got it," Lois said with conviction, making a face to Chloe when Clark turned around.

"Bye, Cuz!" Chloe called out and merged the car into the street once Clark was finally inside.

Lois watched the red VW Bug turn the corner and stepped back into the apartment. Part of her was sad about not going to Smallville with her roommates, especially since she and Martha had become closer after that special phone conversation, but a three hour car ride was about the most uncomfortable thing she could imagine right now… well, other than birth.

To some extent, she was excited to have a couple of days alone. She was planning to spend them watching chick flicks, barefoot and semi-naked. It seemed that she was always hot and uncomfortable lately. Looking around the empty living area with a sly grin, she reached to pull her top shirt off and began fanning herself.

"When the cats are away…" she quietly mused aloud.

**

* * *

**

Lex sifted through the papers on the glass table in the seating area of his office at the mansion. Chloe was on her way over and he was planning on showing her a file that he had found in his father's office vault. There wasn't much to go on from the few confidential files he had managed to pull together, but from what he had unearthed, it seemed that Lionel had been experimenting with enhanced-prosthetic parts on test subjects.

That information alone probably wasn't enough to cause alarm in most people, but Lex was concerned with Lionel's previous dealings with the Department of Defense. His suspicions were that Lionel was attempting to breed some form of super soldier. He was hoping that he and Chloe would be able to find out exactly what was going on.

"Sorry I'm running a little late," Chloe said as she entered. "Clark's mom made fried chicken for lunch and wouldn't let me leave without having some."

Lex smiled a bit sadly. The descriptions of domesticity sounded wonderful. "Not a problem. I should have asked you to bring some leftovers."

"You didn't have to." Chloe placed a disposable food container on the table with a knowing smile.

Lex was surprised. He would never have expected anything like that.

"I know it's not the fancy china corningware that you're used to, but I don't think that changes the taste any."

"Actually, I think it will make it taste even better. Thank you."

**

* * *

**

"Mr. Luthor, I think you need to come with me."

Lex and Chloe looked up to see the man dressed in a security uniform. Chloe glanced back at Lex with concern.

"Is something wrong?" Lex asked, rising to his feet. His eyes narrowed as he realized that he didn't recognize the guard.

"There has been a bomb threat and we need to evacuate the mansion."

Lex reached for Chloe's hand and helped her stand, surreptitiously moving her behind him as he stepped from behind the glass coffee table. Chloe realized that they were moving behind the leather couch and increasing their distance from the man.

"We really should be going now." The guard wasn't wearing a hat and his brown hair was parted down the middle, hanging below his ears.

"Have the police been alerted?" Lex asked, sliding closer to his desk where the button for his silent alarm was located.

"They have," the guard answered. Seeing Lex's movement, he took a step closer to them. "I don't think you want to do that."

"Do what?" Lex asked, pulling Chloe along as he moved behind his desk. "I just want to grab a couple of things, and then we can go."

The guard decided that he was tired of playing games and raised his hand, pointing a gun in Lex's direction. "I insist that you don't. It's quite imperative that we leave right now."

Chloe gasped and Lex raised his hands. "There is no bomb threat, is there?"

"Nothing gets past you, does it, Luthor?"

Lex gave him a hard stare. "You may be wearing the uniform, but I know that you don't work for me."

The man laughed, keeping the gun pointed at Lex's head. "Oh, but I do… or I did, in a way… I can't say that I'm better off for it, but only the bottom line for the company is important. Isn't that the corporate motto?"

Lex frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about, Mr…"

"Ringo. Johnny Ringo."

"Mr. Ringo," Lex repeated, causing the man to laugh again. Lex didn't understand what was so funny. "Listen, perhaps you would like to sit down and we can try to figure out what the problem is."

"The problem?" Ringo asked. "We don't need to figure out what the problem is. You're the problem."

Lex took a step to the side, moving more of his body in front of Chloe. "If that's the case, then maybe I can be the solution as well. When did you work for me?"

"Does the word Apex make it any clearer for you, Mr. Luthor?"

"Apex?" Lex shook his head. "Apex Research Corporation?" It was the name of a firm his father had taken over before he had gotten control of the company. Lex lowered his hands to his sides. His gun was hidden a few feet away.

"You're quick, but not as quick as me," Ringo warned. "You'll be dead before you even open the drawer."

Ringo spun his gun around his finger three times and was back to pointing it at them so fast it was almost as if he hadn't moved.

"See, I have _really_ quick hands, Mr. Luthor. Some might say they're as fast as a machine. In fact, I think it was your employed scientists that said that… when they put them on me."

"The test subjects," Chloe whispered, referring to the information they had just been looking at.

"Listen, I don't know what happened to you, but I am willing to help you in any way that I can. If it's money that you want…"

"Money?" Ringo scoffed. "Luthors are all the same. Money is like candy to you. I don't want money. I want you to see how it feels to be on the other side."

That answer informed Lex that he had little to negotiate with. If Ringo wanted revenge, he wouldn't be interested in bargaining for his safety. "The person you want is my father. I didn't have anything to do with what was happening at Apex."

"Father. Son. Doesn't matter. Luthors are poison in whatever form they take."

"Okay, well you have a clean shot. Take it! Kill me!" Lex offered.

"Lex!" Chloe exclaimed. She wasn't experienced in negotiating with crazy people, but she didn't think that was the way to go about it.

Ringo rolled his eyes. "I don't want to _kill_ you, Lex," he said, drawing out Lex's name mockingly. "I want to torture you." The smile was no longer on his face and his eyes seemed to take on the silver glint of madness.

"Come on, Lex. We'll leave the girl here. It'll be fun."

Lex felt behind him and reached for Chloe's hand. "On me," he muttered.

Chloe wasn't sure what he meant by that, but before she could attempt a guess, Lex hit a button under his desk. Gunshots sounded as he pushed her toward the doorway that had suddenly opened in the bookshelf. As the door slid shut behind them, Chloe realized that they were in what used to be his vault. Instead of housing kryptonite pieces as it had the last time Chloe had seen it, the room now served as a bunker of some sort.

"I didn't know you had a Panic Room," Chloe said as she moved to look at the three monitor screens that lined one wall. All of them were showing shots of Lex's office from different angles.

"I guess I'm a little paranoid," Lex responded weakly.

Hearing the tremor in his voice, Chloe turned to see him leaning heavily against the closed metal door. A trickle of blood made its way to the fingertips of his left hand and seemed to hang there indefinitely before falling to the floor in a spatter. He had been shot.

She rushed to his side. "Where?"

He grimaced as he pushed away from the door. "Left shoulder," he panted.

Chloe helped him over to the cot that lined the back wall and started to pull his ribbed V-Neck shirt from his body. She faltered when he groaned loudly but knew she had to get the shirt off.  
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry," she muttered.

"I told you that I was a good shot," Ringo's voice said, sounding as if he were inside the Panic Room along with them.

Chloe looked and saw that one of Ringo's eyes was taking up the entire screen of the middle monitor. He pulled back and grinned.

"A little bit lower and to the right, and the game would be over. But this is more fun, don't you think? You can't stay in there forever."

Chloe turned back to Lex, and he seemed paler than he was seconds before. She wasn't sure what to do, but she thought she remembered something about checking for an exit wound. Leaning over, she sighed when she saw one. It was not pretty.

"Stop the bleeding," Lex muttered through gritted teeth. He dropped his head back when Chloe pressed his bunched up shirt against the front of his shoulder.

"Lay back," she instructed. She figured that the pillow on the cot would have to work for the rear of the wound.

"Try the intercom," Lex said. "The line goes directly to the police station."

Chloe reached out and pulled Lex's right hand over the shirt. "Press hard," she told him, turning to face the console area once again.

"Smallville P.D.," a man's voice said when the line picked up.

"I'm at the Luthor Mansion. We need help, Lex Luthor has been shot. We're inside a locked room, but there's a man with a gun outside and he's waiting for us to come out. Lex is losing a lot of blood." Chloe stopped to take a breath and waited for the response.

"The Luthor Mansion? A man with a gun? Well, Ma'am, I suggest that you give him what he wants."

Chloe's eyes widened as her eyes flicked to the monitors. Johnny Ringo was smiling at the camera and waving his cell phone. "You didn't think I wouldn't have thought of that, did you?"

He laughed and Chloe realized that he had somehow diverted the line to his cell phone. He flipped his cell phone shut and Chloe heard the audible click on the line.

"Come out and play, Lex."

Chloe moved back to the bed and took over applying pressure on his shoulder. "We've got to get you out of here."

He swallowed and licked his dry lips. "I'm sorry. I wish you didn't have to be part of this."

"Shh. I wish neither of us had to be a part of this, but I'm glad you're not here alone." She glanced back at the screen and wondered how they were going to survive.

**

* * *

**

Clark parked the Kent's red truck in the circular drive in front of the mansion and jumped out. He and Chloe were supposed to have started on their return trip to Metropolis an hour ago but he had yet to hear from her and she wasn't answering her cell. He saw her car parked in the carport behind Lex's newest Porsche. He understood that Chloe and Lex had probably just gone long on their meeting, but he was anxious to get back to Lois.

When he got to the front entrance, the security guard waved him on in as normal, but something felt wrong. It wasn't unusual for Lex to hire new security personnel and it had been a long time since the last time Clark had visited the mansion, so not recognizing the guard's face was not what was bothering him. As Clark continued down the hall, he realized that the tattoo that covered the guard's hand was the thing that seemed out of place. The man had etched the bones of a skeletal hand onto his skin in light ink.

He hesitated as he reached the doors of Lex's office, pulling his phone from his pocket with one hand as he reached for the door with the other. Before he could act either way, the door was pushed open with enough force to knock the phone out of his hand. When the man holding the gun to his head grinned and beckoned for him to enter, he had no choice but to comply.

**

* * *

**

"Lex, you have a visitor," the man called out. "It's rude not to come out and greet your company."

Chloe's eyes darted to the left monitor to see Ringo pulling someone into the office. "Oh, no. He's got Clark."

Lex struggled to sit up. "Clark? What is he doing here?"

"He probably came to look for me," she answered sadly, knowing that without his powers Clark was now in just as much danger as they were.

On the screen, Ringo directed Clark to sit on the leather couch. Seated, Clark wouldn't be able to have much leverage to make any surprising moves.

"You know, this isn't quite how I planned it," Ringo started. "But it could be a lot more fun this way. You wanted to negotiate with something, right? Well, let's start with his life."

Lex forced himself off the bed and lunged toward the console. He pressed the intercom button with a blood stained palm. "Stop, Ringo. You don't have to do this."

"Lex? Where are you?" Clark asked, looking around to see where the sound of the voice was coming from. "Where's Chloe? Is she okay?"

"Relax, she's fine. She and Jr are holed up in his Panic Room. But not for long, right?" Ringo smiled and moved the gun to different positions as if searching for the perfect target on Clark's body. "How about an ear… or a knee… maybe we just go for the kill right away."

Chloe watched in paralyzed shock as the scene played out in front of her like a horror movie.

"Leave him alone," Lex seethed.

"No, I don't think so. You don't make the rules in this game, Lexington. I do. So, here's what we'll do. I count to five, and you come out of the rabbit hole." He ed the gun. "Or I shoot him."

"Ringo!" Lex shouted.

"Five."

Chloe's hands started shaking as she scanned the room around her in panic. There was nothing inside the pristine room that could be used as a weapon. Even the cot was bolted to the floor.

"Four."

Chloe could see the wheels turning in Clark's head through the screen and silently prayed that he wouldn't try anything rash.

"You won't get away with this," Clark announced. "The security system at the Luthor mansion is tied directly to the police."

Ringo gave him a condescending look and continued to address Lex. "Three. Maybe that hole in your arm was not enough to convince you that I mean business. You see, life travels a linear path. You're born and then you die. And you _are_ going to die, Mr. Luthor. Either you do it in that tin can, with me waiting, or you can do it out here. Only one of those choices saves the life of your friend."

"I'm coming out," Lex growled into the intercom.

Chloe grabbed him as he started for the door. He was weak from the loss of blood and stumbled when he tried to resist. "Wait! You can't go out there."

"I have to, Chloe. We have no way of alerting the police from here and if I don't go, he'll shoot Clark. I'll go out when the door opens, and as soon as I'm clear, shut it again, okay?"

Chloe shook her head in disbelief. "There's got to be another way out of this…"

"Two! Running out of time here, Sport!"

Giving Chloe a final determined look, Lex hit the button next to the door and lunged out. She blinked in surprise and followed, disregarding his earlier instructions.

"Chloe!"

She wasn't sure if it was Clark or Lex who screamed her name as she dove through the opening, but the shot that followed caused pieces of wood from the bookcase above her to fall into her hair. She froze when she realized that the glass desk between her and the shooter wasn't enough to provide cover from another shot.

Ringo had pulled another gun from somewhere and now had one weapon trained on both she and Clark. He obviously wasn't too concerned about Lex, as he was leaning heavily against the bookshelf in obvious pain.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Clark start to edge forward on the couch as Ringo's attention turned to Lex. Chloe shook her head to try to send a message to Clark. If he had still had his super-hearing, he would have heard her mutter, 'Stay there.'" But he didn't hear her or follow her advice.

"The rules have changed," Ringo told Lex. Then he pulled the trigger.

Chloe screamed Clark's name as he doubled over clutching his stomach. The look in his eyes was a mixture of pain and shock. His name was still on her lips when Lex pulled a gun from some hidden location in the bookcase behind him and drew on Ringo. Ringo was quicker though, and the gun flew from Lex's hand as he squeezed off another round.

"I told you… Not yet!"

When she would think about it later, Chloe would have sworn that she must have moved at superhuman speed, because before anyone could react again, she had slid to the desk and pulled the trigger on the Beretta Lex had under his chair. One of the guns fell to the floor at Ringo's side as he pressed his hand against the new hole in his neck.

He opened his mouth as if to say something but ended up merely smiling as he sank to the floor. Chloe jumped to her feet in a panic and ran over to kick the guns out of Ringo's reach. Shuddering, she moved to Clark's side.

"Is he okay?" Lex asked. He was slumped on the floor next to the bookcase, breathing shallowly.

Tears sprung to her eyes as she looked down on her friend. The sight of his eyes closed serenely contradicted the steady dark stain that was spreading beneath him. Reaching for his arm to search for a pulse, she saw that there was something cupped in his hand. Turning it over, she saw that while sitting on the couch, Clark had been able to get her cell phone from the bag she had left there. The display screen was showing that a 911 call had been connected for the last two minutes.

* * *

Chloe could barely remember being driven to the Smallville hospital after the police questioned her. They had arrived while she was trying to revive Clark, and the paramedics followed within minutes. The operator who had answered Clark's call had keyed in on the location through the words of the voices on the line. Once shots were heard, the police had been dispersed to the mansion. 

When the police arrived, they found two Luthor Security personnel dead and hidden on the grounds. Ringo's accomplice had deserted the plan when he heard the first shot, but the authorities were able to quickly pick him up before he was able to run far. Apparently, the sidekick had thought that money had been their ultimate objective and wanted nothing to do with the plan when it took a deadly turn.

Somewhere during the blur of events, Chloe had called the Kents. Now, she watched with tears in her eyes as they stood to meet the surgeon who had just exited Clark's trauma room.

* * *

Lois blamed Clark for her paranoia. If he hadn't been acting like Mr. Doom-and-Gloom for the past few weeks, she wouldn't be in this position right now. She rubbed her sternum in an attempt to calm the tightness in her chest. She had been trying to call Chloe, Clark and the Kents for hours but no one was answering their phones. 

She walked with purposeful strides, seeming to know where she was headed, and no one tried to stop her. Somehow, she knew without knowing where she needed to go. She had felt this way since the moment she started her car.

Her step faltered as she entered the room, her eyes flicking back and forth rapidly as she took in her surroundings. She saw Martha and Jonathan Kent clinging to one another near the wall ahead of her. She saw the white knuckles on Martha's hand and she saw how the doctor addressing them was grasping a surgeon's cap in his fist. A few feet away, she saw her cousin listening to the conversation on baited breath. Lois took in Chloe's tear streaked face and noticed the rust-colored stains on her clothes.

Suddenly, she felt like she was drowning as she realized who was missing from the scene. The words filtered to her as if battered by storm winds as she bobbed in and out of the silent scream that echoed in her head.

"…bleeding out… stable… wait to see… nothing… time… tried everything…"

Lois kept moving forward, not realizing when she passed behind the Kents and Chloe.

"Lois! What… doing?... How... know… here?"

Lois turned at the hand on her arm and blinked in confusion as her cousin's words ran over each other.

"Where is he?" she heard her voice ask, but she kept walking because she realized that she didn't need an answer… not that she could hear it anyway.

"Don't… can't… in there… Wait!"

Once she was through the door, her hearing came rushing back. She felt Chloe behind her, trying to keep her from going further inside, but the figure on the table was the only thing that held her attention.

Lois swallowed and stepped closer, obliviously dragging her cousin along with more strength than she knew she had.

He was so pale.

The stark contrast between his skin and his hair made it seem as if the world had turned black and white. Lois reached out slowly to touch his cheek, jerking it back when she felt the cold and dampness as if she had touched dry ice.

"Clark?" Her voice didn't sound like her own, coming over the impossible tightness that had now taken residence in her chest. "Wake up."

Chloe was still struggling to pull her back when Clark's eyes fluttered open. But they weren't seeing either of them; they were glossy and staring ahead at the ceiling, seeing something not of this world.

"Jor-El."

* * *

Chloe's battle with Lois halted at the sound of Clark's voice. They both stepped closer to the bed, Lois's hand stretching out to grab his. 

"And now, my son, you come back to me."

The voice filled the room and a white light exploded, accompanied by an invisible force that pushed them backwards. When their eyes readjusted, they could see that the bed was empty. Alarms sounded as the EKG machine sang its somber song of flat-lines.

"Lois?" Chloe's brow furrowed as her cousin turned and walked to the door of the room as if in a daze, and she hurried to follow.

She arrived at her side just in time to sink to the floor while bracing Lois's fall. "Oh, God," she muttered.

Lois was groaning and clutching her stomach. "…Hurts, Chlo."

"Help me! Somebody, please!" Chloe's head swiveled from side to side as she pleaded with the fates, the gods, angels… for anyone to come to her aid.

* * *

Martha's attention had been drawn to the door of her son's hospital room even as the surgeon was answering her last question. She pulled away from her husband and broke into a sprint as soon as she saw Lois's face come around the open door. 

Chloe was near hysterics when the older woman dropped to her side and reached to help cradle Lois's head.

"He's gone, Mrs. Kent… Jor-El took him."

Martha met Chloe's wide and expressive eyes in shock. She didn't have much time to process the information as hospital personnel were already lifting Lois from their arms and helping them to their feet.

"What?"

"Jor-El," Chloe repeated.

Martha shook her head and raised a hand to stop Chloe from repeating the rest. The door in front of her swung open as a team led by the surgeon her husband had been talking to ran into the trauma room with a crash cart. Her heart leapt when she saw what Chloe was trying to tell her for herself. Clark wasn't in there.

* * *

Jonathan drove fast, clearly aware that he had no idea where to go. He had left Martha at the hospital with the promise that he would find their son… but the truth was that he didn't know where to look. He sped the truck up as he turned onto Route 45. He had no destination, but he had a purpose. 

As he drove, he considered going to the Kawatche caves, even though he had hoped to never go back to that place again. The deal he had made with Jor-El to gain enough power to be able to battle Clark when he was under the influence of Red Kryptonite had almost claimed his life. His heart was still suffering from the effects. Yet… if it meant saving his son, he would do it all over again.

The dark sky rumbled as thunder sounded in the distance. The first heavy drops of rain from the impending storm plopped onto his windshield, blurring the white lines that marked the division of the road. Lightning arced across the sky and in an instant he knew exactly where to find his boy.

* * *

"Mrs. Kent." 

Martha looked up from her phone and stood when she realized that a doctor was addressing her. She had been staring at the face of her cell while silently praying that Jonathan would call with news that he had found Clark. The hospital authorities were in a frenzy trying to figure out how they had misplaced a gun shot victim.

"We've administered nifedipine to stop her labor, but we haven't seen the results that we were hoping for. We would like to start her on an additional drug, but the problem is that the potential side effects naturally increase with the more medicine we inject into her system. The positive thing here is that her water hasn't broken so we are still ahead of the game."

Martha looked across the room to where Chloe was being comforted in the arms of her father. Gabriel had driven out to Smallville as soon as he'd gotten the call. The poor young woman had gone through enough trauma in one day to last her a lifetime.

"If you need a release of some sort, her uncle is over there…"

"Oh. Well, she asked that we talk to you…"

"How is she? Can I see her?"

The doctor seemed doubtful for a moment, glancing toward the man Martha had pointed out as his patient's uncle. His debate ended as he decided that keeping his patient calm was more important than logistics right now. "Of course. Please come with me."

As they walked down the hall, he continued speaking. "She's quite worked up, even with the meds. We really need her to calm down - in her current state we won't be able to stop the preterm labor."

"The baby?"

"I'm hoping that your presence will help her relax. The baby's heart rate is slowing with the contractions, and we are a little concerned that his lungs might not have developed enough to survive the stress of labor right now."

Martha paused at the door to the room and looked at the doctor in wonder. "His?"

The doctor smiled. "She didn't know?"

Martha shook her head. "She wanted to be surprised."

He nodded and reached to open the door for her. "Then we won't tell her. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Thank you, Doctor."

Martha allowed the door to swing shut behind her before she walked over to the bed. Lois was lying on her side facing the window. Rain drops pelted the glass fervently.

"How are you feeling, Honey?" she asked, rounding the bed so she could see Lois's face.

Lois's eyes were tightly clenched shut and she seemed to be holding her breath. A pillow had been situated between her stomach and the bed to help support the weight as she lay on her side. Her breathing evened out as the contraction ended.

Alarmed, Martha pulled the chair next to the bed and grabbed her hand. "Sweetie, you have to calm down so the medicine can work. It's too early for the baby to come."

Lois swallowed and met Martha's concerned gaze. "Who is Jorelle?"

Martha started to lean away in surprise, but Lois grasped her hand tighter.

"Please?"

* * *

Jonathan opened the door for Martha when he heard her climb the porch steps. She had decided to drive Lois's car after finding out from Sheriff Adams that the cars and the crime scene wouldn't be released until the next afternoon at the earliest. 

Lois had finally calmed enough to fall asleep after Martha had let her in on the secret that her family had been keeping for years. It had been a surprise to learn that Chloe knew, but there had been no time to worry about that when it was revealed. Eventually, she supposed that they would all have to sit down and talk.

When Jonathan wrapped his arms around her, she leaned into his embrace and drew strength from his love. "Is he okay?"

Jonathan rested his chin on her head and closed his eyes. "He's sleeping."

"Where did you find him?"

"In the field… the place where he first found us." A small smile found its way to his lips. "Once again naked as a jaybird on Sunday."

Martha smiled as well and started walking toward the stairs. Jonathan tugged on her hand and led her to the den. Clark was lying on the couch under a flannel blanket.

"He's not as light as he used to be and this was as far as I could go while he was cooperating."

Martha sat on the coffee table and reached out to stroke her son's hair. Pulling the blanket down, she lifted his tee shirt enough to be able to check his wound. Lifting the gauze bandage, she saw that his skin was unmarked.

She replaced everything and covered the hand that her husband had placed on her shoulder with her own. "What do you think this means?"

"I don't know. He was disoriented and exhausted when I got to him. I guess we'll just have to wait until he wakes up to find out what happened."

Martha nodded and reached out to gently touch her son's face once more. They remained there together for another fifteen minutes before she finally moved to stand.

"How is Lois doing?"

"They got her stabilized, thank God." Martha could see the young woman's stricken face in her mind. "I told her about Clark."

She searched her husband eyes for disapproval but didn't find any.

"Okay." Jonathan reached for her hand and led the way to the stairs.

* * *

Martha covered her travel mug with the cap and turned to face her husband. She had decided to return to the hospital to sit with Lois until she was to be discharged later that afternoon. Chloe had gone home with her father the night before, and the prospect of sitting at home waiting for Clark to wake up from his deep slumber made her anxious. As a worried mother, it was better for her nerves if she was in an active situation. 

"Andrea said she would work a double shift at the Talon, and I was able to get a couple more workers to come in on their day off, so that's taken care of."

Jonathan listened quietly and nodded, aware that the explanation was more for her benefit than his own.

"You'll call me if anything changes with Clark, right?"

"You know I will."

Martha nodded and sighed. After the turmoil that had occurred the day before, there was only one more thing to say. "I love you."

"I love you, too. Everything will be fine."

She was grateful to him for saying the thing that she desperately wanted to hear and believe in. She leaned in to give him a meaningful kiss before wrapping her arms around his neck for one last moment of comfort.

* * *

By the time Martha returned to the farm, the sky had turned dark, but the rain that had been present that morning was still falling. Large puddles of muddy water littered the drive, splattering the truck's sides as she drove toward the house. 

"Hold on one second and I'll meet you on the other side with the umbrella," Martha instructed, taking a moment to rub Lois's forearm.

When Martha opened the driver's side door, Lois looked the house that had represented sanctuary for her not too long ago. While she was lost in her thoughts, the door to the house opened and she could see a figure standing in the frame. The house's interior light behind him made him look a silhouette, but Lois would recognize that shape from anywhere.

As if caught in a daze, she hopped from the cab without waiting for the umbrella as Martha had said. Her hair had started to frizz during the drive as it dried, but now the frizzies were retreating under the onslaught of rain. Lois took another step forward and stopped… waiting.

"Here, let's go inside," Martha offered. She was on cloud nine, having seen her son standing in the entrance of the house as if the trauma of the day before had never taken place. Seeing that Lois was frozen, she placed the umbrella's handle in Lois's hand and jogged to the porch.

Embracing Clark for moment, she whispered in his ear as she pulled away. "I think you two have a lot to talk about."

Clark stepped out onto the porch and then into the rain. When he stepped onto the ground after leaving the last step, Lois started walking toward him again.

Once they were in arm's distance to one another, Clark reached out, ready to reciprocate her embrace. Instead, she raised her arm and slapped him.

**

* * *

**

* * *

**TBC****

* * *

**


	15. FOURTEEN

* * *

**FOURTEEN

* * *

**

* * *

"Are you still angry with me?" 

Lois faced Clark long enough to glare before turning to look out the passenger window again. "No. I'm perfectly fine with you pissing off some god-like entity that just happens to be doing the bidding of your dead biological father and almost ending up dead. How about you?"

"Lois, I did it for…"

"A stupid reason," she finished for him.

Clark sighed and focused on driving. This was a discussion they had spent the day before going through. They were now on their way back to Metropolis after the doctors at the Smallville Medical Center had consulted with Lois's doctors in the city. They agreed to let her return, but once she got back, she was to be house-ridden until they felt the threat had passed. When they left the farm, Martha had promised that she would make arrangements to come up to Metropolis for the next weekend.

No matter how many times or how many different ways he tried to explain it to her, Lois couldn't find any validity in his decision to relinquish his powers.

"I just wanted to have the chance to have what everyone else has."

"Have you ever heard the saying about the grass always being greener?"

He could tell that Lois was rolling her eyes even though she didn't look at him. "Sometimes it really is greener."

Lois didn't respond.

Clark drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. They had been driving for around 30 minutes so he knew that she was going to need a bathroom break soon. He started looking for a gas station.

Part of him knew that the only reason she was so angry about what he had done was because she cared about him, and in some elementary way that made him feel happy. On the other hand, she had countered an earlier discussion on the topic by saying that by making his decision as a basis to spend more time with her, he had basically made her the cause of his 'death.' That argument kept him sober.

His thoughts trailed back to the slap she had given him when they had been reunited. He knew that her hand had to have hurt because he had felt the sting himself. One of the terms of his 'resurrection' was that he wouldn't have all of his powers returned at once. Jor-El seemed to think that Clark's education would start over, beginning with the re-entry of his powers one at a time, hoping that this time, Clark wouldn't take them for granted.

There was another topic he'd wanted to approach since his return but there had been so much dissension between them that it had never seemed to be the right time.

"Genetics aren't what makes a father, you know."

Lois turned to face him with a blank expression.

"Watching you over the past few months, I realized how much I want to be somebody's dad someday. And when Jor-El said that I couldn't… I thought the only choice I could make was the one that I did. I guess I'm not so good at being human. I didn't last very long."

Clark's chuckle died when he saw Lois's eyes steel. She was obviously not amused.

"Something good did come from it, I guess. I got something like a wake-up call. It's all about perspectives… you know, all in the way you look at it. Jor-El may have helped to make me, but Jonathan Kent was the one who was with me every day that I can remember. He was the one who tucked me in at night and was the one who gave me all the lectures… all of the guidance. I may not be able to splice genes but that doesn't mean I can't be a father."

Lois blinked slowly. She had read between the lines quite efficiently. She knew what he was asking but she wasn't in a place to give it to him.

"And I have no doubt that when the day comes, you will be a great father," she replied softly.

"But," Clark voiced, having a feeling that the word was coming next.

"You will make a great father and you deserve the chance to have a great family. No buts."

Clark sighed. "I think you, me and Chloe make a great team. It might not be a family in the traditional sense, but it is one in every other way that matters."

And you could stop searching for the other guy, he mentally continued. It seemed crazy to him that he felt so jealous and afraid of someone he had never met, but he was. The selfish solution would be to cancel the mystery man from the equation all together.

Lois allowed a small smile to grace her lips. She could read his thoughts as if he had spoken them. "From what I've heard you say about Jor-El, you probably think that your biological father is more of a burden than anything else… but you can't deny that his guidance has been important in its own way. Knowing who he is… well, that's part of knowing who you are. Especially if the stork that drops you on the stoop actually pilots a space craft," she finished lightly to take some of the seriousness out of her reply.

Finally looking around, she noticed that Clark had taken a highway exit and was pulling into a gas station. They had just filled up half an hour ago, so she knew they didn't need gas.

"Why did we stop?"

"Because you need to pee," Clark answered with a smug smile.

Lois sucked her teeth as she pushed herself out of the car. She hated it when he was right.

* * *

Chloe stepped into the room hesitantly, wondering if she would be flooded with mental reminders of what had taken place there two days before. She felt some relief that those images weren't bombarding her and continued to go inside. Having seen her enter, Lex stood from his desk and walked to meet her. 

She gazed sadly at the sling that held his left arm in place. This was the first time she had seen him since one of the ambulances had spirited him away on that fateful night. Their eyes met briefly before Chloe stepped into his half-embrace.

Lex smiled into her hair and released her. "Did I remember to thank you for saving my life?"

"Well I guess that makes us even, you know, for all the favors you've done and the whole safe house thing."

"Okay. I'll accept that deal."

Chloe chuckled and stepped toward the bookcase. She ran a finger lightly across the books as she walked along the shelves. "I'm on my way back to Metropolis and I thought I would come to say goodbye."

"I'm glad you did. Chloe, I'm really sorry about what happened…"

"It wasn't your fault. You can't control what crazy people decide to do, especially in the name of your father."

Lex shook his head and put his good hand in his pocket. "The sins of the father are revisited on the son."

"You don't believe that do you?" she asked, stopping to face him.

"I don't want to."

"Then don't."

Lex smiled at her confidence. It almost made him believe that it was that simple. "I'm really glad that Clark is feeling better. I guess it looked a lot worse than it was. It was a miracle that the bullet only grazed him. Johnny Ringo wasn't as good of a shot as he thought he was."

Chloe realized for the first time that the carpet had been replaced when she turned to look at the spot where Clark had laid. "You didn't have to cover his medical bills."

Lex shrugged as well as he could with one arm. "The incident took place on my property so the insurance company stepped in. It was not a problem."

Chloe raised her eyebrows and nodded. That was how the staff at the hospital had explained it, but she knew that there was more. "Well, then, you have a very generous insurance company."

Chloe decided that it was time for her to start on her drive. It had been her suggestion that Lois ride with Clark instead of her because she felt that they would have a better chance of working out their issues if they were stuck in a rolling tin can together. She wasn't worried about her timing as she knew that Clark would have to stop for Lois throughout the drive, but she figured that it would be best to be at home when they arrived in case there were casualties.

"I should get on the road. Are you coming back to the city soon?"

Lex nodded and started walking toward the office door with her. "After what happened this week with Ringo, I am really interested in finding out what Apex was doing. I'm going to call an emergency board meeting late next week to see if we can get some answers. Would you like to sit in?"

"Yes, that would be great. Just let me know when."

* * *

Clark watched Lois pace back and forth in front of the futon. They had been back at the apartment for three days and she hated being stuck in the house. She said that it was like putting a lion in a cage. Looking at the path that was starting to form in the carpet, Clark had to agree. 

"Lois, part of the reason you are house-bound is because you are supposed to take it easy."

Lois paused and turned to glare at him. He had been able to go back to school and life while she was stuck staring at the paint on the walls. He had even gone to the Planet and offered to pick up her work for her. Her damn traitor of a supervisor had been so impressed with the Kent Charm that not only had she allowed Clark to pick up Lois's assignments, she had offered him Lois's old job at the Morgue. They hadn't replaced her since her promotion.

"Shouldn't you be getting ready to go to _my_ job?" she asked, starting to pace again. "I can't believe you took my old job. You're a stalker."

"Technically, I'm not really stalking you if you're not there," Clark replied. He knew that she was just frustrated. "Would you please sit down?"

Lois growled and moved to sit next to him. "I'm not doing this because you asked me to. I'm just afraid that if I don't, you'll go and… cut off an arm or something."

Clark shook his head and lifted the notebook that was in his lap. "So, are you going to finish these notes so I can take them to the Planet when I go?"

Lois glanced at the book and sighed. She was having a hard time concentrating. "Okay, okay. Read it to me again."

Clark began going through the stuff she had written up for Foswell's story. Even though she had closed her eyes, he could tell that she was still edgy because she was continuously shaking her leg. He decided that he would have to talk to Chloe later to see if there was something they could do to ease her anxiety.

Just as he was thinking that, she became perfectly still. Clark faltered in his reading and shifted to look at her. "You okay?"

Her eyes popped open and she started to awkwardly push herself to her feet. "I need to go to the bathroom."

Clark smiled and helped her stand. He continued to go through her notes while she was gone, correcting a few spelling errors as he went.

"Hey, Clark?" Lois's voice was muffled from being behind the closed bathroom door.

Clark put the notebook down and walked to the hallway. "Yeah?" Sometimes she would call for Chloe to help her stand up if she was having trouble.

"We need to go."

He frowned and walked to the door. "Lois, you know you're not supposed to go anywhere… Wait. We need to go where, exactly?"

"The hospital."

Clark's breath froze in his throat and he pushed the door open to see her sitting on the closed lid of the toilet. "What's wrong?"

Lois released a slow breath and looked at him with wide eyes, as if he should already know the answer to that question.

Clark leaned heavily against the door frame. "Your water broke?"

Lois drew in a breath. "Not exactly… I'm not sure what… I think it may have broken this morning."

"This morning?"

She nodded. "I thought it was just me having to pee... a lot of times. It wasn't a big gush or anything… Just a bunch of little squirts, and not even all together. And I felt a little cramping… but nothing like last time, so I just figured…"

Clark's face paled. The words 'gush' and 'squirt' in this context made him queasy. "This morning?" he repeated shakily.

"Well, more like last night if I think about it." She took another deep breath, letting it go slowly.

Clark swallowed. "This morni…"

"Yes, Smallville! This morning! Snap out of it!"

Clark finally jumped into action. "Okay. Um… okay." He tried to remember what all they learned from class about hospital day. He couldn't think straight long enough to remember if they had even gotten to that class or not.

"Your bag?" he asked, his spiraling thoughts finally landing on something.

"I hadn't gotten a chance to pack it yet… we're a little early here."

"Right. Okay, I'll go get some stuff. Will you be okay for a minute?"

Lois nodded and Clark wished for the first time that he had his super-speed back. Jor-El had been right. He wasn't going to be taking anything for granted anymore.

* * *

"Hello?" 

"Mom! I need your help."

Martha waved for her assistant manager to take over the register for her as she cupped her cell phone to her ear and walked toward the back office.

"Clark, what's the matter?"

"It's Lois. The baby is coming and I have no idea what to pack in this bag."

"The baby!" Martha started untying her apron with her free hand. The doctors had warned them that even though they had stopped Lois's preterm labor, there was a very slim chance that she would make it to her due date. She mentally kicked herself for not having already been in Metropolis but she hadn't expected to need to be out there so soon.

"All right, what do you have so far?"

"A bag."

Martha fought not to laugh at her flustered son. She and Lois had discussed the bag a couple of times. "Get her a nightgown and a change of clothes. Something comfortable."

Clark didn't have time to be embarrassed about rummaging through Lois's drawers. "Check."

"Check her dresser. Do you see any Chapstick or something like that?"

"Um… there's cherry, vanilla, cherry-vanilla, lime…"

"If there's a non-flavored one, that would be best, Honey."

Clark shrugged and swept everything on the vanity table into the bag. "Okay, got it. What else?"

"Comb and brush?"

"Yeah."

"Did Lois buy any baby stuff yet?"

Clark darted across the room to the set of drawers that Lois had started putting baby stuff in as she collected it. He pulled out a blanket, a cotton onesie outfit, and a rattle-pacifier set and stuffed everything into the bag. "Baby stuff added."

"Why don't you go bring the car around so she won't have far to walk?"

"Keys!" Clark exclaimed, running out of the room.

Martha covered the mouthpiece of the phone and briefly informed Angela that she was going to have to leave earlier than planned but would check in with the shop once she got home. Angela nodded and waved her toward the door with the assurance that everything would be fine.

Martha nodded gratefully and headed out of the door. "Clark? Where are you now?"

"I'm in the car. I just pulled up to the stop sign at the corner."

Martha paused as she reached her own vehicle. "Sweetie… where's Lois?"

* * *

Clark hit the breaks and put the car in reverse. When he arrived at the front of the apartment, Lois was standing on the stoop with a toothbrush in her hand. 

"Mom, I gotta go. I'll call you back."

Martha chuckled. "Don't forget to call Chloe."

"I wish you were here."

"Your father and I will get there as soon as we can. You'll be fine."

Clark pressed the button to end the call and jumped out of the car. He aided Lois as she descended the two steps. "I can't believe you left me."

"I didn't _really_ leave…"

"You left me." Lois paused as Clark opened the passenger door for her. "Get the garbage bag from the trunk."

"The garbage bag?" he asked, running to do as she asked. He returned to her side with the plastic. "Why?"

Lois pointed to the seat of her car. "Just in case."

Clark quickly spread it across the seat and helped her get in. He was praying that the just-in-case scenario would not happen on his watch.

* * *

"Oh, that one wasn't so bad. It's coming down now." 

Chloe looked up from the little monitor that was showing the status of Lois's contractions with wide eyes. The wiggly lines on the screen looked like the outline of Mt. Everest. With the way Lois had groaned on some of the smaller ones earlier, she would have thought she would be screaming bloody murder on this latest one.

"Yeah," Chloe agreed with a grimace. "Not so bad."

Clark was fidgeting in the far corner of the room, unsure of when he was supposed to hit the waiting room. His coaching duties were supposed to end somewhere between 'Ready' and 'Push.' His mother and Chloe were supposed to be the actual catchers.

The doctors had informed them that things looked to be progressing quickly. It seemed that Lois had unknowingly been in labor for the entire morning, but her water hadn't actually broken yet. She had been so far dilated by the time they arrived at the hospital that they weren't able to administer an epidural.

Gina, one of Lois's nurses stepped in the room. She had been coming in and out frequently. Her quick exits and entrances made Clark worried but she always had a pleasant smile on her face. He couldn't decide whether to be nervous or calm. The smell of the scented candles Chloe had brought added a light flavor to the room. He knew that he would forever think of this day whenever he smelled Ocean Mist or Lemongrass. He was immensely thankful that Lois had insisted on not having anything that smelled like food.

Gina jotted some notes on a chart and walked to the side of the bed opposite Chloe. Rubbing Lois's hand lightly, she informed her that Dr. Hagan had just finished delivering a set of twins. "She'll be here shortly. Are you doing all right?"

When Lois nodded, she smiled. "Let's try to go to the bathroom one more time, okay?" She had explained earlier that it was less uncomfortable to go into labor with an empty bladder.

Clark moved closer to help her get up. He was the hired brawn, after all.

"Did you call?" Lois asked him as he stopped at the bathroom door to let Chloe and Gina help her inside.

"I did, and she's coming. I promise."

* * *

Clark never made it back to his corner. After Lois returned to the bed things started moving faster. Lois's back started hurting and he was familiar with all the right pressure points to push, making him a permanent fixture on the side of the bed. She was now laying on her side with her back to him, facing Chloe, whose hand she was tightly gripping in her own. 

"We don't have a car seat."

Chloe brushed Lois's damp bangs from her forehead. "I'll make sure we have one before you leave."

"We don't have a crib."

"No problem. Babies can sleep in dresser drawers at first." Seeing Clark frown at her from behind Lois's back, Chloe shrugged. "I read that somewhere."

"Okay, I need to roll over," Lois groaned, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Okay," Chloe responded, rising from her chair.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," Lois whimpered as they helped her roll onto her back.

"Go ahead and get behind her," Gina instructed Clark. She hadn't left the room after the last time she had returned. That fact made him wonder if they were getting close to game time.

Clark gently held Lois up a little so he could slide onto the bed behind her. He realized that in that position he could still apply slight pressure to her back and she wouldn't have to lay flat against the bed, something that was obviously uncomfortable for her.

Chloe turned away quickly so she could suck in a breath. Seeing Lois in pain put her close to tears. Facing the bed again, she smiled and rubbed her cousin's arm. "You're doing great."

Dr. Hagan returned to the room with a bright smile. She was followed by another nurse. "Okay, Honey, let's see how you look."

The nurses helped place Lois's legs into the stirrups that swung out from the bottom of the bed.

"I need to push," Lois commented, letting her head fall back against Clark's chest.

"I see that," the doctor agreed. "Hold tight, Lois. We don't want this to go too fast. You are doing just fine, okay? Give me a few more seconds." Dr. Hagan knew better than to say minutes. For a woman in labor, minutes sounded like years. "Do you have your focal point?"

Clark exchanged a glance with Chloe. Both of them had forgotten that detail.

"I have something in my wallet," Clark announced.

Chloe helped to support Lois while Clark reached and pulled his wallet from his back pocket.

"If that is a picture of Lana, I'm going to kill you," Lois muttered through clenched teeth as she returned to her position.

"It's not," Clark promised, holding the picture up for her to see. "I was supposed to give it to you earlier, but I forgot."

It was a photo of Lois and Chloe standing with the Kent family at his and Chloe's high school graduation.

"It's our family," he said. "The baby's family."

"I like it," Lois replied. She sucked in a breath. "But it's not working. I still want to push."

Clark smiled and handed the photo to Chloe so she could see it. "Try this one," he said, holding up something else.

Lois's brow creased as she looked at the wrinkled paper. "What is that?" she asked, fighting off a laugh.

"I drew this for you."

The paper showed three stick figures, two of them with the appropriate triangles to indicate skirts. The skirted figure in the middle also sported a circle above the triangle. The caption underneath the drawing read: All for one, and one for all.

"I found it in your trash can when I went to empty it and didn't think you showed enough respect for my masterpiece, so I saved it for you."

Lois rolled her eyes and let out a soft chuckle. She realized that it was the note she had never read the morning Chloe had brought things back into perspective for her. It felt like such a long time ago.

"We'll have to frame it some day," Lois replied, grateful that he had taken her attention off of her pain for a brief moment. She closed her eyes and bore down with a grunt as the moment wore off far too soon for her liking.

A short knock sounded and a male nurse poked his head in the room. "This is Lois Lane's room, right?"

Gina walked over to see what he needed. She turned back to the room with a grin. "Look who's here, Lois."

Lois lifted her head and started crying. "Mom."

Martha rushed to the side of the bed and took hold of Lois's outstretched hand. "Oh, Honey. Hi. Don't cry. It's okay. It looks like you started without me." She leaned down to kiss Lois's cheek, and ran her free hand over her hair.

Clark looked at his mother in wonder. "How did you get here so fast?"

"We hitched a ride on a helicopter," Martha replied, winking at Chloe. "Thank you."

Chloe nodded. "I'm glad you made it."

Lois moaned loudly and let her head fall back again.

Dr. Hagan nodded to her nurses and leaned forward. "Time to go to work."

* * *

"Good, Lois. You're doing just fine. The head is almost out." 

Lois failed to bite back a scream and Clark ducked his head to her ear, whispering something soothing as he had been doing the entire time. He had forgotten about his earlier plans to leave the room. He was there for the long haul. He was now standing behind Lois's bed with his hands on her shoulders.

"Okay, I need you to ease up… Don't push. Your body will do the work… Don't push. There you go." The doctor cradled the baby's head with one hand while clearing mucus from the tiny nose and mouth with the other. "Very good. You're doing great."

Chloe couldn't take her eyes off of the mirror that was standing behind the doctor's head. It had been positioned so they would be able to see the baby's arrival.

"Okay, real slow now…" The baby's shoulders slipped out followed quickly by the rest of the little body. Dr. Hagan was relieved that there was no tearing. "Excellent, Lois! Congratulations, you have a little boy!"

Dr. Hagan accepted a suction pump from Gina and cleared more mucus from the baby's throat. He immediately let out an annoyed wail.

"Yep, that's a Lane," Chloe commented.

The baby immediately was placed on Lois's stomach and he fussed as Gina wiped him down with a towel.

"He's beautiful," Lois uttered shakily through her impending tears. She gathered him closer and inspected every part of him that she could reach. The emotions that she was feeling were so powerful that she forgot all about the pain she had just gone through.

* * *

"5 pounds, 3 ounces. 18 ½ inches long." 

After all the measurements had been taken and he had been poked and prodded enough, the baby boy was tightly wrapped in a blanket and placed into Lois's waiting arms. From his position behind Lois, Clark had an excellent view of the red-faced new addition. He couldn't stop the tears that welled in his eyes. He had never endured anything so emotional before.

"Hi, Baby Boy," Lois greeted lightly.

The infant's eyelids crinkled as he forced them open for the first time outside of the womb. He was still releasing short outbursts to make his displeasure known.

"He recognizes your voice," Martha commented softly. She was in awe of the mother and child before her.

Chloe reached over and lightly touched the tiny hand that was wrapped around Lois's finger. "Wow, Lois." She was speechless.

Clark absently stroked Lois's hair and stared at the baby. "He's okay? His lungs…?" he looked up to the doctor with a question in his eyes. There had been a scare that if the baby was born too soon, his lungs would be underdeveloped.

"He's doing just fine. We were lucky to make it to 32 weeks and we're not even going to need the ventilator," Dr. Hagan replied with a smile. The Smallville doctor had administered a steroid shot the week before to help stimulate the baby's development as a precaution.

"He's a good size for a premie and his lungs are great by the sound of that yell," she teased, continuing to explain that they would need to see how he responded to being fed before they would know how soon they would be able to take him home.

Clark gave the doctor a grateful grin and turned back to Lois. She was handing the baby to Martha.

"Well, hello. Hi there," Martha cooed, holding the baby securely to her chest and swaying slightly as she talked to him.

His little eyes closed again.

"He's exhausted," she commented.

"_He's_ exhausted?" Lois scoffed playfully.

Chloe walked around the bed to get a closer look. When Martha asked if she wanted to hold the baby, she suddenly got nervous. He was so tiny.

The second nurse came over and snapped a little hospital bracelet around his ankle. "Don't worry. He won't break. Go ahead."

Chloe stiffly accepted the child as the nurse pinned a matching bracelet around Lois's wrist, and followed with one for Martha. He started screaming after a few minutes and Chloe bent to hand him back to Lois.

Martha beamed with joy. "I'd better go and tell Jonathan the news." She halted in mid-step. "Who do I say has arrived?"

"Connor." Lois smiled and rubbed her nose against the little striped cap on the baby's head. "Everyone, I want you to meet Connor Jerome Lane."

* * *

Clark and his father stood at the window to the nursery looking at the newborns. They had just left Connor, Lois, and Martha in the room with the nurse as Lois was starting her first breastfeeding lesson. 

Jonathan put a hand on Clark's shoulder and squeezed lightly. "How are you holding up?"

Clark looked at his father with a helpless expression and Jonathan laughed. He didn't need any more than that to get his answer.

Further down the hall, an excited Chloe fought with the temptation to call in a birth announcement to the Planet. She was still shaking from the excitement of having watched her godson's entrance into the world. She looked up from her phone to see Lex standing beside her.

"Lex? What are you doing here?"

"You said it was an emergency and asked for the use of the Smallville Plant's chopper. After the board meeting ended, I decided to come and see if you were all right." He reached out and lifted her right arm and mockingly examined her. "You look fine."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I am."

Lex nodded. "I would have brought flowers or a teddy bear or something, but I had no idea your cousin was pregnant."

Chloe beamed with pride. "And now she's the mother of a little boy."

Lex peered down the hall to where Clark and Jonathan were standing. Mentally, he started connecting the events that had taken place over the past several months. His eyebrows rose with surprise. "Clark's the father?"

"No. He isn't," Chloe replied with a soft laugh. She turned her head so she could look at the person in question. "But he would give anything if he could be."

* * *

Lex stopped by Lois's room to offer his congratulations before he left for the office. Wanting to offer more than just words, he'd called his assistant and asked her to have a car seat from Baby Town sent to the hospital as soon as possible. He couldn't help but admit that the baby was cute, but the thing he found to be most amazing about the tiny person was the effect he had on the people around him. 

Lex could see first hand the truth behind the old saying that a baby changes everything. Connor commanded the attention of everyone in the room without being able to speak a word. Everyone was deliriously happy and peace seemed to settle on whoever walked through the door. Even Mr. Kent had shaken Lex's hand and thanked him for his generosity with the use of the helicopter.

Dumfounded, Lex had merely nodded before rushing to offer to pay for the Kent's hotel room as well. He was intent on staying in their good graces for as long as this turn of character lasted. Even though the offer was declined, Lex's good mood was not deflated.

He watched as Clark's parents doted over the baby and smiled. Clark was leaning against Lois's bed watching the scene as well, and Lex realized that everyone in the room wore the same dopey grin that was on his own face. He could see from the look in Clark's eyes that Chloe was right about his desires.

Lex looked once again from Jonathan to Clark with admiration, aware that fathers were created through more than bloodlines.

Not for the first time, he wondered how his life would have been different if his own father had _wanted_ the responsibilities that came with the title. Lionel Luthor was the antithesis of fatherhood; guilty of numerous crimes against his own progeny, and yet Lex had never been able to reciprocate in a like manner… Even when he desperately wanted to.

The night of the second meteor shower, Lex had reached the end of his wits with his father. They had been arguing about the sacred crystals when the one hidden in Lionel's pocket had suddenly illuminated and knocked him unconscious. The staff was evacuating, but Lex had ordered that his father was to be left behind. He had planned to put his father's lies to an end once and for all.

The events that had taken place at the caves had finally convinced him that he was doing exactly what his father had designed him to do. He had become so obsessed with something material that he was endangering his own sanity and the lives of the people he cared about. When he left Clark and Chloe behind, he had returned to the mansion to get his father. He couldn't leave him to die, no matter how much he deserved it. He was not a monster, even if the man who raised him was.

At the mansion, he had found Lionel crazily scratching cave symbols into the wooden floor of his office, ultimately a victim of his own design. As Lex carried him to the basement where they would take cover until the meteors stopped falling, Lionel had continued to mutter phrases amongst sadistic laughter.

"The son becomes the father. The father lives on through the son. He will not die. I will not die. Where is my son? You are not him. He's coming, though. He will be back. You cannot kill him. You can't kill the father because he is the son."

Even though the string of words made no sense, they were always in the recesses of Lex's mind. He didn't think that he would ever escape them… they were always repeated whenever he went to visit his father at the Belle Reeve Mental Asylum. Somehow, although Lex never went inside the room, Lionel's cataract covered eyes seemed to peer through him from the other side of the two-way mirror. He knew he was there. He always did.

Returning from his memories, Lex watched as Chloe took her turn holding the now sleeping infant. The small smile returned to his lips as he imagined the kind of mother she would make. He sobered abruptly when he turned to see Lois watching him through heavy-lidded eyes. He could see that even though she was exhausted, she was as observant as ever.

Lex pushed himself up from where he was leaning against that wall. "I need to be going. But remember, if there's anything I can do…" He laughed, realizing that he was repeating himself. "…don't hesitate to call. Again, congratulations."

* * *

"I love your mom," Lois muttered into her pillow. "I love your dad. I love my roommates. I love my bed. I love being able to lie on my stomach on my bed… for a few seconds." Lois rolled onto her back. Her chest was still a little tender. 

Clark smiled and ran a finger over Connor's fine light brown hair as he slept. His parents had just left the apartment to go to their hotel. They had thrown Lois and Connor a small 'Welcome Home' party after she had been discharged from the hospital the day after Connor was born.

His parents had bought Lois a crib, and he and his father had spent most of the night putting it together. It probably wouldn't have taken as long if they had read the directions… but well, it was a man thing, and they had enjoyed the process of trial and error… numerous times. Chloe had stayed with Lois at the hospital overnight and was now in the shower, claiming that she had seen so much of hospitals in the past two weeks that she needed one of Lois's marathon showers to return to normalcy.

"You've been really quiet, Smallville. What gives?"

"I just… I never thought I'd see something like that." Clark gazed down at the baby.

Lois swung her legs over the side of the bed and sat up.

"Thank you for letting me be a part of it." Clark turned his head to look at her. "And for his name."

Lois smirked. "For naming him Connor or Jerome?" Her face softened as he turned back to her son. "Clark, come here."

He pushed away from the crib and walked to the bed. She stood up when he was close and extended her right hand.

"I should be thanking _you_. I couldn't have done any of this without you."

Clark accepted her offer of a handshake and shrugged. "Or Chloe."

"Or Chloe," Lois agreed, gazing in his eyes. "But I already talked to her. I told her that I would name something else after her."

They stood there silently, attached by their lightly clasped hands, trying to both express and read feelings with their eyes. They were coming off of a whirlwind of events, and as a result, the quiet companionship they were now sharing was almost draining.

Lois's brow scrunched a little as she thought about their still joined hands. There was much to be said, and yet there was nothing to say. Earlier in her pregnancy, she had commented to Chloe that her life was going to change drastically with the addition of the baby. Now that little Connor was here, she realized how much of an understatement that was.

She had no idea what to do next.

Biting her lower lip, Lois cleared her throat and smiled widely. "I've gotten kind of used to you being around, so don't go off and get killed anymore, okay? I don't think Kryptonians get nine lives."

Clark matched her grin. "With your determination to learn to cook, nine lives would come in handy."

"I guess two lives will have to do," she teased.

A high-pitched wail broke into the quietness of the room.

"Speaking of food… I think he's hungry," Lois said, laughing and slowly pulling her hand from his.

Clark tucked his hands into his pockets and watched as Lois moved the crib and lifted the baby into her arms. A soft smile graced his lips as he thought about her words.

Yes, two lives would have to do.

**

* * *

**

* * *

**TBC**

* * *


	16. FIFTEEN

* * *

**FIFTEEN**

* * *

**

* * *

**_-- **Est. Time Remaining: 15:23:48** --_

Xavir looked up as a chime sounded, alerting him that someone was about to enter his office door. When his red-haired friend stepped over the threshold, he let out a small breath of relief. He had been afraid it would be his father, and that was the last person he wanted to face right now.

"Xavi, man, we have a problem."

Xavir swallowed his relief. "What is it?" He hoped that nothing had gone wrong with the preparation of the shuttle he was going to be using to get to Earth's surface. He needed to warn the Guardians of what had happened as soon as possible.

"The countdown," Fitz started. "It's wrong."

The dark-haired young man frowned at his friend's words. "Wrong? Why?"

Fitz held up a hand. "Well, not wrong exactly… just not right. I was sitting at my workstation setting up the feed blocks for your launch when the alarms on my cpu went off."

Xavir struggled not to show impatience with Fitz's recount. Fitz was the breed of scientist that tended to focus on the process more than the results… which was a fine trait to have when you weren't fighting the hands of time. Instead, Xavir inserted what he already knew about the details to imply that there were parts Fitz could skip over. "The alarms that you programmed to monitor the velocity of the wave, right?"

Fitz nodded. "Yes. Exactly. They went off because the wave is no longer traveling at the same rate. It's faster and bigger. Something happened."

"Something happened," Xavir repeated slowly, his mind searching for possible explanations. "There's been an alteration?"

"See for yourself." Fitz darted to the desk and pulled up the holographic monitor to Xavir's computer. He tapped a few keys and logged into his workstation remotely.

Xavir paled at the sight of the image that appeared. The graph showed the before and after images of the building wave. Some event in the past timeline had caused it to double in size. A new set of numbers reported the time until collision. They now had less than 13 hours to set things right. "She had the baby," he announced grimly. "That's why it jumped."

"That's what it looks like," Fitz agreed, glad that he didn't have to make that announcement himself. He really wasn't good at imparting bad news. "We've got to look at the bright side of this, though."

Xavir gave him a doubtful look. Their plan had already been rushed _before_ the countdown had gone into warp drive. "What bright side?"

"Well, the Rethrick should stick now."

Xavir tilted his head as he considered that possibility. He and Fitz had applied the Rethrick Memory Resequencing Procedure to Clark, Lois, and Chloe before sending them back to the past. Since Lois had gone back with an item from the future essentially embedded inside of her, her procedure had been likely to start reversing itself. That would have allowed her to experience memories of the time she had spent 100 years in the future. The baby being born meant that those memories would stay hidden.

"Do you think that Superman has the same neurotic buildup as a human?"

Fitz frowned at the sudden change of subject. He and Xavir had often had theoretical discussions about the super class, but it had always been fanciful, like two kids debating comic book characters. Fitz didn't think this was a time to be thinking about that kind of stuff. "I think it has got to be pretty close. From the appearances, Superman is just as human as we are except for his abilities. I'd say he somehow has access to more than 10 of the gray matter that allows thought to become action."

Xavir nodded distractedly. "Do you think that the Rethrick would hold if it were run on Superman?"

Fitz looked at his friend oddly. "On Superman? Who would want to do that?"

"Would it hold?"

Fitz shrugged. "I couldn't say." For the life of him, he couldn't see why that information was important at that moment. Something in his pocket beeped and he remembered what he had wanted to do earlier. "Oh, I modified a chrono-logger for you to track the progress of the wave," he said, reaching into his pocket for the item.

Xavir studied the face of the small spherical object when it was handed to him.

Fitz reached over and pressed the button on the top. The screen switched from the 3D image that represented the wave to show the descending numbers of the countdown.

Xavir blanched at the readout. "It just jumped to 12 hours!" They had lost an hour in the blink of an eye. He looked at the countdown on the holographic screen of his computer and saw that it to had adjusted to the new time.

"It's been jumping forward erratically," Fitz explained. "I have no idea if it's going to settle here or not, but this way you will know the new count as it is analyzed… I won't be able to update you once you leave the station, so this is the next best thing."

Xavir met the serious eyes of his friend. The look of anxiety there echoed his own.

Fitz put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's get you to your friends so you can save the world."

* * *

"Sir, a new development has arisen." 

The Professor swiveled in his chair to face the man entering his office, turning from the numbers on his wall view-screen. He already knew what Merrick was going to say. "In some cultures, people would hand out cigars or candy at the announcement of a birth. Somehow, I don't think you are here to celebrate."

Merrick shook his head curtly. "We were striving to avoid this complication."

Kairo waved dismissively at the words. It would not help anything to talk about something they couldn't control. "What is the status of the Llecom? When can we schedule the jump?"

"The complex is almost ready. We should have a window open in a few hours."

"A few?" Kairo questioned. He didn't deal in generalizations and his staff knew that.

"Three hours," Merrick amended. "Also, Xavir Christian is no longer onboard the space station."

"You have his location?"

"We do."

Kairo smiled and clasped his hands together, intertwining his fingers. "Excellent." He turned the chair around again to face his view-screen.

Merrick knew he was dismissed but had another question. "How does the operation change in regards to the package?"

"It is now a retrieval mission. The package will be brought to me." Another wave of the hand followed the instruction. "Also, tell the ground team to initialize. As soon as we get a confirmation on the dissidents, the unit should be deployed."

Merrick smiled. Like anyone else, he loved it when a plan fell into place. "Yes, Sir."

Hearing the doors slide shut behind his agent, Professor Kairo sat up a little in his chair. "Computer, retrieve file HG7-10-RXL25, authorization Echo, Alpha, Chi, Theta, Menios."

"Authorization Lysander Kairo, granted," a computerized voice returned.

"Display."

The countdown image was minimized to the corner of the view-screen as a number of documents and images were tiled across the space. Kairo's pupils moved from side to side as he reviewed the information. His perusal stopped on one of the images of the red-caped crusader known to the world as Superman. He was not alone in the picture. The right hand of the superhero was resting lightly against the face of none other than Lois Lane. The way his thumb was rubbing her lower lip made the meaning behind the caress crystal clear.

Decades earlier, Kairo's grandfather, Former President-Elect Lex Luthor, had exercised all the resources in his power to keep this image out of the hands of the media. Lex had been loyal to his friends even though the falling sand grains of time had left them distant. Kairo had grown up hearing stories about the fabled love of Lois and Clark. As he grew older, he had lost some of his childlike wonder at the fairy tale, but realized that to his grandfather, it was much more than that. Those two former friends were part of a Lex's family. They were people he would protect to the end.

So, when an opportunistic tabloid journalist sought to mar the pureness that was Lois Lane and Clark Kent, Lex had taken care of it. The only thing that ever surfaced about a supposed affair between the flying invader and Lois Lane were rumors.

Kairo knew the truth. The only evidence of it was in the file in front of him, and he was the only one alive that had access to it. It was ironic that the information was kept from the public when it actually proved the very thing that Lex had been trying to show the world all along: Superman was a fraud and a threat. On the surface, Superman spouted the values of truth and justice… but Lex had always known that there was something sinister underneath the red, yellow, and blue façade. For Lex Luthor, Superman represented a plot against the people - and the world - he was preordained to protect. Lex knew that the leader of the super class had been waiting for the opportune moment to take over the world.

Which is why Lex had sought to eliminate him.

Superman's attempt at hurting Lex's family by destroying his friend's marriage was the final blow. He hadn't blamed Lois for being the target of Superman's persuasive powers. Lex knew that Lois and Clark shared a profound love - he had been there from the start to witness it. Instead of faulting her for being the victim, he was grateful that he had found the superhero's apparent Achilles Heel. In the end, that was how he knew how to set the bait.

Unfortunately, Superman had never shown up to the intended meeting, and both Lois and Clark had perished.

Kairo thought about an old proverb his grandfather used to recite. _The years may change the fish, but the bait remains the same._

If hypothetically, Superman was infatuated with Lois Lane to the point where her death had led him into a devastated retreat, then hypothetically, being reunited with her would lead to some interesting interactions. If Lois could have been susceptible to Superman's influence years after her marriage to Clark Kent, she would have been even moreso in 2006, which was the year Xavir had brought her from.

Blessed with a sharp analytical mind, Kairo did not need a diagram to know what would have occurred when forbidden lovers were brought together without the complications of a marriage license. His own son was proof that he had been there once himself. He turned to the desk and bypassed the security protections in order to open his top drawer. Inside a beautiful metal case, a dagger with a green blade lay waiting.

_"You cannot kill Superman."_

Even though his grandfather hadn't believed the warning from the defeated alien conqueror, he had commissioned the knife as a precaution. Now it was Kairo's turn to be the protector. If he was going to succeed where his grandfather had not and make the battle final, he would need a better understanding of what he was up against.

Another proverb came to the Professor's mind: _Know thy enemy as you know thyself and victory will be yours._

What better way to learn the enemy than from himself?

Professor Kairo smiled as he answered his thought out loud. "Learn from his child."

* * *

* * *

Chloe unlocked the apartment door and stepped inside. When she saw the positions that her cousin and two-month old godson were in, she started laughing. 

"What are you guys doing?"

Lois kept her eyes closed and smiled. "Yoga."

She was lying on a light blue mat in the middle of the living room floor. On the floor beside her on a thick blanket, Connor was making faces at the colorful mobile above him.

Chloe shook her head and unloaded her backpack and jacket onto the futon before lowering herself to the floor next to the baby.

"Well, I guess it's never too early to get him started as a health fanatic," Chloe commented, sliding the mobile out of the way so she could get a better look at Connor. "Although his Shavasana position needs some work."

"Shut it," Lois retorted with a chuckle, finally opening her eyes. "He's a genius, and you know it."

Before Connor was born, Chloe had been afraid of what a new baby would mean to their lives. The prospect of living with constant cries and sleepless nights had often made her wonder how she would be able to cope. Now, looking down at the littlest Lane, Chloe couldn't imagine life without the baby in it. Every day was a new adventure with Connor around, and it was exciting to see what else he would do.

Chloe smiled to herself as she recalled the mental image of the she and her two roommates standing beside the crib as if they expected for him to do something amazing in his sleep. For all of her anxieties, Chloe couldn't help but cuddle him every chance she got. Much to Lois's chagrin, Connor rarely had a chance to get a full cry out because Clark or Chloe would be there in an instant.

"You're going to spoil him," Lois warned watching Chloe lift the baby from his pallet as he began to show signs of having had enough of the yoga session. Lois looked at her son with a smirk. He seemed to be able to sense which of his caregivers would give in to his charms the quickest.

Chloe clicked her tongue at the baby and ignored Lois's warning. She figured that it was part of her job description to spoil the kid rotten and then hand him back to his mother when she was done.

"Good day today?"

"Excellent day," Lois replied. "I only got pooped on once."

Chloe laughed. At this stage, Connor's talents were limited to the basics of crying, yawning, grunting and pooping. He seemed to be most comfortable when naked and had impeccable timing. It seemed as if he saved his best shots for the moment the diaper came off. "What about this morning? How did it go with Dr. Chambert?"

"It didn't."

Chloe looked at her questioningly. "You didn't go?" The plan for that morning had been for Clark to stay home to watch the baby while Lois went to her appointment.

"No, I went. It's just that nothing happened."

"Oh," Chloe sighed. Since the baby's birth, Lois's dreams and subconscious tingles had come to a complete halt. "So, if the hypnosis didn't work… what now?"

Lois's expression turned grim. "We pop the hood and take a look at the engine."

Chloe's eyebrows rose and Lois smirked. "They need to create a map of my brain and check to see if any wires are crossed. CT scans, MRIs, PET scans, and a whole bevy of new probing techniques guaranteed to advance the understanding of neurological science worldwide."

"Yeah," Chloe nodded. Dr. Chambert had told them about the phases they could try once Lois was no longer pregnant.

"I told them that I wanted to delay starting the workup."

Chloe's jaw dropped at the announcement. "But I thought you were determined to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible."

"I am… I was," Lois stammered. She reached over to inspect Connor's nails, smiling when his little hand curled around her finger. Those tiny nails were like razors if they weren't kept trimmed.

"I mean, I was all set to go full throttle on this once the baby was born, but now he's here." Lois's eyes returned to Chloe. "And everything's changed. I wouldn't be able to continue breastfeeding if I consented to those scans right now… with the radiation and everything."

Lois knew that her history was littered with questionable decisions. In the past, she had taken the advice of Mae West and had always chosen the greater when dealing with two evils. It certainly made for an exciting life.

But now, her son brought a level of excitement and responsibility that she couldn't explain. Her priorities had changed.

"I think you're right," Chloe said.

"You do?" Lois turned her head a little. "Who are you and what have you done with my cousin? Shouldn't you be reminding me that the longer we let it lie, the worse our chances are?"

"Probably." Chloe gave her a wide smile. "That is something I would say, isn't it? But things really have changed. I just don't know that finding out who his daddy could be is more important than taking care of _him_. He's healthy, he's happy… and I can't seem to forget the fact that you remembered more when you _didn't_ want to than when you did."

Lois's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe it's like one of those Mind Eye pictures… it doesn't come into focus if you look directly at it." Chloe shrugged. "You can always rethink your decision once your no longer breastfeeding him."

Lois remained silent. She hadn't expected Chloe to agree with her decision to put off the investigation, but now that she had, it almost made her feel justified.

"Besides, I'm starting the think that waiting to see if you were really in love with this guy is a waste of time."

"Whoa. Excuse me?"

Chloe held her cousin's gaze. "I think that it's an excuse." She didn't relent when Lois scoffed. "An excuse to keep a certain someone on the sidelines."

Lois's expression turned impassive. "It's not my intention to put him in a tough position. You know that."

"I do! I'm just saying…" Chloe rubbed Connor's stomach lightly. "Clark's different."

"Yes, I recall you telling me something like that before."

Chloe flinched. "I was a little overprotective of you both back then. I still am."

Lois shook her head. "That's not someplace I'm really ready to go right now."

"Why not?"

"He's so much bigger than all of this, Chloe."

Chloe's brow crinkled. "Because he's an alien?"

Lois frowned. For some reason, she didn't like that word. 'Alien' and 'E.T.' brought images to her mind that looked nothing like Clark. "Yes… No. I can't help forget that there is a reason for Jor-El bringing him back. I think Clark finally realizes it too."

"You're afraid that he'll have to leave?"

Lois leaned down and kissed her child's cheek. His blue-green eyes followed her until she sat up again, leaving his range of vision. "I'm afraid he won't want to… and I refuse to let that happen."

Chloe bit her lip. She didn't want Lois to do anything drastic so she figured that she was going to have to let the subject lie for a while. "Can I talk you out of this dinner you're planning?"

Lois looked appalled. "Why would you want to do that?"

Chloe gave her a wide eyed look. "Do I need remind to you of the Beef Wellington incident?"

"Is it my fault that the pages of the cookbook were stuck together? Don't answer that."

They were all going to the Kent Farm for Thanksgiving dinner the following week and Lois had promised to help Martha cook. Not wanting to go in unprepared, Lois was planning a pre-Thanksgiving dinner for her roommates as a practice run.

"You are so lucky you aren't on solids yet, CJ," Chloe told the baby. CJ was the name that Clark insisted on calling him as a constant reminder that they shared the same middle name. With the number of nicknames the kid had, it would be a wonder if he grew up to recognize any of them.

"No, you cannot talk me out of the dinner," Lois stated firmly. "But you _can_ invite your boss."

Chloe turned to face her with her lips parted in surprise. "My boss?"

Lois smirked knowingly. "I thought it would be a nice way to thank him for the baby gifts and I haven't seen him since we were at the hospital."

"Oh, I don't know…" Chloe hesitated. Lois's cooking wasn't the only reason she was unsure about the suggestion.

Lois knew what she was thinking. "Clark will be fine with it. He trusts you. If you think Lex is worth a second chance, we might as well see for ourselves."

Chloe thought for a minute and decided that misery did indeed love company. The more people that ate dinner, the less chances there would be for leftovers. "Okay."

Lois smiled and stretched her back by arching it. "If you don't mind watching Peanut for a few minutes, I'm going to go take a shower."

"Take your time," Chloe responded. She needed to type up a brief lit review for her class but she had become quite good at doing things one-handed lately... although not as well as Lois could.

"Bless you," Lois replied, leaning to kiss both Chloe and CJ. "I think I'll make it a bath. I haven't had one of those in…" She frowned. "Damn, I can't even remember."

Chloe chuckled and watched Lois get up. When the baby began a tremulous cry, she looked up at Lois for translation.

"He's not hungry," Lois observed. "Probably wet."

As she bent to take him from her, Chloe pushed her hands away. "I've got it. Go take your bath. He's in good hands."

Lois smiled softly as her cousin rose from the floor with her son tucked in the crook of her arm. "He's in the best hands." She turned and started to walk to the bathroom. Turning to look over her shoulder, she paused. "After mine, of course."

"Of course," Chloe agreed, sarcastically.

She set the baby on the changing table in Lois's room and peeled back the diaper's flaps. She made small talk with the child as she used wet ones to clean his bottom. Just as she settled him onto the new pamper, Conner grunted and began to turn red.

Chloe looked at him suspiciously and took a peek, before hurriedly taping the diaper shut. "Oh, Pooper!"

It was another well-earned nickname.

* * *

"Hey Clark." 

Clark turned in surprise at hearing his name. "Lex? Hi. What are you doing here?" Lex didn't seem like the type to shop at SavMart.

"Chloe said that the two of you were supposed to pick up some of the final things for dinner. I offered to help when she needed to run to a last minute meeting." Lex looked at the baby in the carrier nestled against Clark's chest. "He's a lot bigger than he was the last time I saw him."

Clark looked down and smiled. "I know. Time seems to go by really fast now that he's here."

Lex stood back while Clark sorted through various apples in the bin before selecting a few. "Look, Clark, I know that you probably weren't thrilled about me coming to the dinner tonight, but I just wanted to thank you for not opposing. I figured that a grocery store was a good place to start looking for an olive branch."

Clark took his time placing a tie on the bag of apples. When he had displayed his displeasure to Lois about Lex's invitation, she had asked him if his distrust of Lex Luthor was based on something he had done, or on something he had the potential to do. He had to admit that between the incident at the mansion and Lex's help in getting his parents to the hospital for CJ's birth, there was a chance that Lex wasn't the villain he was afraid he would be.

Clark turned to face the other man. "Or, at the very least, a jar of olives."

Lex smiled and nodded. Clark placed the apples into his cart and mentioned that he needed to go to the deli counter to pick up some sliced smoked ham next.

"Chloe told me that Lois was making a ham for dinner," Lex pointed out as they arrived at the counter.

Clark arched an eyebrow. "She is… that's why we need backup."

Lex laughed and accepted the platter from the deli worker. After placing it in the shopping cart, he took over the cart pushing duties as Clark stopped to jiggle the fussing baby.

"It's getting close to feeding time," he remarked glancing at his watch.

Just as he finished his comment, his phone rang. "Hello?… Yes, I know. We're almost done!" He looked down at the baby and tilted his head away from him while rolling his eyes. "The cell phone radiation will not scramble his brains, I promise… Yes, I realize that… Okay."

Lex watched curiously as Clark finished his phone call. His face had brightened as soon as he had answered and he was smiling uncontrollably.

"That was Lois," Clark informed him unnecessarily, sliding the phone in his back pocket.

"How are things going with the two of you?"

Clark looked momentarily confused. "The two of us? Lois and me?" He smiled. "There's nothing… Why would you think that?"

Lex shrugged nonchalantly. "My mistake." He knew there was more to it.

"Not for my lack of trying," Clark muttered under his breath. He figured that he was probably starved for male companionship to even have let that slip out. "It's complicated."

"Women usually are," Lex replied. Looking at Clark rubbing the baby's back soothingly, he thought that complicated could be an understatement. "You just have to figure out what their roses are."

"What their roses are?"

"Courtship, Clark. It's a dying practice but a successful one. Love seldom prevails without intimacy and romance." He gave a half-smile at Clark's quizzical 'how-would-you-know' expression. "What was it you said? Not for a lack of trying. Getting into relationships hasn't been as much of a problem for me as staying in them."

Clark shrugged but didn't say anything.

"The practice of giving roses was once symbolic of a man's willingness to become acquainted with the feminine psyche. For a knight to arrive with flowers at a Lady's home, he had to descend from his mount, remove his armor, and brave the thorns." Lex nodded toward the flower display as they passed. "I'm sure you can see why roses don't carry as much weight with the fairer sex now that they can be purchased as an afterthought."

"So, don't buy roses?" Clark asked in amusement.

Lex shook his head, a soft almost self-reflective smile was gracing his lips. "No. I suggest finding out what it is she wants that would make you take off your armor."

* * *

Clark shot a forced smile to the two people Chloe was talking to before pulling her just outside of the kitchen doorway. 

"Does Lois know you brought him here?"

Chloe looked at him oddly. "She knows that I was bringing someone else. What's the problem?"

Clark's jaw tensed as Lois walked up beside them from the hallway. She had been checking on the baby when Chloe arrived at the apartment. Her steps faltered when she saw the identity of the person speaking with Lex.

"Arthur Curry!"

AC grinned brightly as he moved into her outstretched arms. "Heya, Sweets."

Chloe's eyes were wide with interest as she faced Clark. "She knows him already? And you knew about this?"

Clark nodded curtly, crossing his arms across his chest as he watched Lois and AC get reacquainted.

Lois pulled back from AC with a look of wonder on her face. "Chloe didn't tell me that you were the emergency meeting she had to go to. What are you doing in Metropolis?"

"I owed Blondie a favor, so when I came across some information that I thought she might like, I looked her up."

Lois arched an eyebrow and looked in Chloe's direction. "Oh, yeah?"

"And when she invited me to her cousin's dinner, I couldn't resist. Especially when this cousin hadn't mentioned a thing about knowing me."

It was Chloe's turn to send Lois a pointed look.

Lois smiled mischievously. "Well, I never tell on the first date, and seeing as there was never a second one, it didn't seem to merit a billboard."

"Now that I'm back, maybe we should see what we can do about fixing that."

Chloe could almost feel Clark tense next to her. Just as she was about to say something to break into the moment, a high-pitched cry came from the rear of the apartment.

"I don't think so, Curry," Lois replied with an amused expression.

AC watched as Lois returned to the hallway after exchanging a quick word with Lex as she passed. "Sounds like you have a pretty angry cat back there."

Clark smirked. "It's not a cat."

Chloe looked between the two men and shook her head. "So, who's hungry? Why don't we go and find the paper plates."

Lois returned a little later as everyone was leaving the kitchen with their plates. Earlier, Clark had moved the small kitchen table into the living room. They didn't have another chair to add to the table, so he set up a tray next to the futon and set his plate on it.

"Oh, Clark, I'll sit there. He's not going to let me eat right now anyway," Lois said, shifting the fussy infant to her other shoulder.

Clark walked over and took CJ from her. "You go eat. I'll take him for a while."

Connor tended to be less fussy at mealtime when held by someone other than Lois. It seemed that baby was perplexed with knowing milk was near and not being able to have it.

AC set his plate on the table looked on curiously. "Who's that?"

Lois smiled and rubbed the infant's back as he lay against Clark's shoulder. "This is my son, CJ Say hi, big guy," she cooed.

"Hi," AC responded.

Lois looked at him and chuckled. "I was talking to him."

"I know," AC said with a shrug. "He's the biggest guy here." AC cleared his throat awkwardly and devoted a quick glance at Lois's figure. "How old is he?" She looked really good for having had a baby… he would never have guessed it.

"Two months." Having seen AC's surveying look, Lois smirked and turned to Clark. "I'm going to go get a plate. I'll eat fast, I promise."

"Take your time," Clark offered.

Both AC and Clark watched her enter the kitchen.

"CJ as in…?" AC questioned softly.

"Connor. Connor Jerome."

"Ah. I thought it might have been Jr," AC said, sizing Clark up with a look.

"No," Clark replied curtly, letting some of his annoyance show.

"Okay, Brother. I get it." AC grinned. He raised both hands in a brief show of surrender and went back to the table where Chloe and Lex were already seated.

* * *

At the end of the night, everyone light-heartedly agreed that the only thing Lois should offer to cook for the Kent Thanksgiving dinner was Mashed Potatoes. Everyone had wisely steered clear of the macaroni-and-cheese after Lex almost chipped a tooth on his first bite. Lois merely insisted that practice made perfect… and then, to everyone's relief, served the desert Clark had picked up from the store. 

It wasn't until it was time for the guests to leave that Clark finally relinquished his protective hold on CJ. Lois looked up at him with mock astonishment as he gently handed her son to her. "So, now that he's crying, I get to hold him?" she teased.

Clark shrugged. "Only because I can't feed him."

Chloe came up next to him as Lois walked away laughing. "I'm hoping that she has gotten this cooking bug out of her system after this."

Clark's eyes were on Lois as she was saying goodbye to Lex and AC. "What was the information AC had for you that was so important?"

"He's made some recent professional contacts and thought I might be interested," Chloe replied.

"Professional contacts?" Clark turned and looked at her curiously. "He swims for a living. Why would you be interested in anyone he knows?"

"You'd be surprised," Chloe said under her breath. She dodged Clark's stare. It was hard to keep stuff like this from her friend, but Clark would be the first to understand why she needed to. She had learned from him that secrets were only to be shared with permission.

"AC's a good guy, Clark. Hopefully one day you'll get the chance to know him… when you're not trying to grill him, that is." Chloe couldn't help but chuckle at her private pun on words as she stepped away.

Clark shoved his hands in his pockets and thought about Chloe's words. When AC made his way over to say goodbye, Clark allowed his guard to slip a little.

"She's something else, isn't she?"

"She is." Clark turned to face him. "I'm sorry if I came off a little… off."

AC grinned. "It's okay. If they were mine, I'd probably act the same way."

Both of them looked over to see Lois walking with Lex to the door where Chloe was waiting to walk him to his car. The baby had finally stopped crying, relieved to be back in his mother's arms and having the knowledge that he was going to be eating soon.

"They're not mine," Clark admitted.

AC shot an odd look at Clark's profile. Clark didn't strike him as a person who was intimidated by semantics. "Are you sure about that?"

Clark faced AC again but didn't answer the question.

"Take care of yourself, Clark."

"You too," Clark replied, reaching out to shake his hand.

"He just smiled!" Lois exclaimed, drawing their attention to where she was standing just inside the front door. "Yay, CJ! That's the first time ever! At least the first time when it's not gas," she teased, pulling the baby close so she could kiss him.

"He's never done that before," Clark told AC in awe.

"I gathered," AC responded. "That's one heck of a grip you've got there, Kent."

Clark realized with a start that his strength had returned and in his distraction he had been squeezing Arthur's hand tightly. Up to that point, none of his powers had returned. He slowly unclenched his hold and swallowed. "Sorry."

AC rubbed his hand in confusion. "No harm done, Brah."

They gave each other calculating looks. Clark knew that he had squeezed tight enough to break bones but could see that AC was unharmed.

"Well, guys, I don't know about you, but I have had enough excitement for the day." Lois's voice broke into the silent tension that had been hovering. Neither had seen her walk over to them.

"I know I already told you good night, Curry, but since you're still here, I'm going to have to do the inhospitable thing and leave the party before you do," she continued.

When no response came, Lois looked between the two men, curiously regarding their identical blank stares. "O-kay," she said with a quirked brow. "I promised this little guy some dinner. So…"

She gave them both another strange look. They looked almost guilty. "…Bye."

When she was gone, A.C. walked to the door. "Catch you later, Clark." Seeing Clark frown in reply, he continued. "I have a feeling that I'll be seeing you around."

**

* * *

**

* * *

**TBC**

* * *


	17. SIXTEEN

* * *

**SIXTEEN**

* * *

**

* * *

**_-- **Est. Time Remaining: 09:55:32** --_

Xavir nervously scanned the area surrounding the shuttle as he waited at the mouth of a large cave. Gotham was a sparsely inhabited city in the section of the North American continent that had been reorganized into New Troy after the third Dominion War. Unlike Metropolis, Gotham had not been chosen to be one of the cities of refuge and hadn't been domed to protect it from the radiation fallout brought on by the war.

As a result, Gotham City was dark, dank and largely unpopulated… save for a certain secret underground society that thrived – well – underground.

The next time he was supposed to be coming to the Guardians door, it was to be after he had executed the final stages of the plan to take down the Centre's Time-Syncing project. When he left Gray, the elderly statesman that headed what remained of the decimated Justice League, and his family, things had been looking up. Lois, Clark and Chloe were on their way to being sent back to their native timeline, and Xavir's interference with the time-space continuum was being erased.

Or so had been the plan. Lois going back pregnant had thrown a wrench into everything.

Xavir heard a noise at the door the shuttle craft and held his breath. The threat of raiders in this area was high. He would have stashed the ship inside the mouth of the cave, but he knew that the Guardians had it boobie-trapped.

The Kryptonian ship kept in the base of the space station was the foundation of the Centre's ability to facilitate time travel. At the heart of that ship was its Tislore core: a culmination of alien technology and chemicals that produced a vortex when combined with a specially designed DeLor8 Padd housing an adequate supply of pure Llecom.

After sending the time jumpers back to 2006, Xavir was supposed to set detonators on the core, get access codes from Brynnan, and return to the Guardian's headquarters. Obviously, things weren't happening quite in that order.

The door to the shuttle opened.

"You're ahead of schedule," the auburn-haired woman addressed him. "Somehow I don't think you're bringing good news."

"Hey Brynn," Xavir greeted grimly. "It's not."

Brynnan sighed. "It's a good thing you didn't try to use the old flight plan," she said as she climbed inside the ship. "Karyn reconfigured the cave walls as soon as you left."

A slightly older auburn-haired woman poked her head through the opening. "Couldn't take the chance that one of your Death Star colleagues would be able to get the route off the ship's harddrive," she chided.

Xavir waved meekly at the newcomer. "Hi Karyn."

Karyn nodded in returned. She knew that they needed to get moving if they didn't want to draw any undue attention. Two flight craft sitting outside of a desolate cave system was enough to make people ask questions. She looked at her sister. "You ready to roll?"

Brynn saluted in reply as she moved to sit in the second pilot's chair. Within minutes, she had entered the necessary commands and they were entering the dark corridors.

"I'm sorry about this…" Xavir started. "I know that this means the Guardians could be compromised."

Brynn grunted. "Do you ever do anything that you don't have to apologize for?" She steered the ship around blind curves following tightly behind Karyn's ship. When they were younger, they had done this for fun. It no longer a game.

"When it comes down to survival, only geniuses and rats survive." She briefly shot Xavir a sidelong glance. "The jury is still out as to what side of the spectrum you fall under."

Xavir gritted his teeth together and forced himself to stay in control of his emotions. "Look, I know that this whole thing is my fault – if I hadn't hijacked the project and tested the window before release, none of this would be happening right now. I know. I'm doing the best I can to fix it!"

A smirk flirted at the edges of Brynn's mouth. There was that backbone. She knew he had it in there somewhere.

"To be fair, this isn't really your fault," she corrected. "This war started long before either of us were born, and if you hadn't activated that window, someone else would have – possibly someone not sympathetic to our cause. We may not have started the game, but it looks like we're the ones who get to play out the final innings."

Xavir looked at her with a perplexed expression. Her change in tone caught him off guard. "You think this is destiny or something? Like we're acting out roles that were already written?"

Brynn shrugged as she directed the craft on a downward plunge. "My mother used to say that the Universe is always right on time. Everything happens for a reason. The string of events that connects our families has been littered with the deaths of so many people. Why not believe that something can come from all of this that saves some lives in return?"

* * *

Grayson Wayne was waiting when Kayrn and Brynnan returned to the underground mansion with Xavir in tow. After greeting him with a warm hug, he led the young man and the two women to the Great Room. 

Xavir began to pace as the others took their seats at the large round table. "Lois was pregnant," he announced, wiping his damp hands on his pants.

"Was pregnant?" Karyn asked.

Xavir nodded. "Fritz and I were waiting for the wave to expire after we sent everyone back but instead of flattening it kept building…"

Brynn clicked her tongue. "Meaning something from the future went back with them."

"Yes," Xavir agreed. "We sent Chloe back in her original clothes, but the stuff Lois and Clark came in was still at the hotel. With the time constraints and the Centre agents crawling all over the place, there was no way to get it back to get them… So we sent them back naked." He turned to face Gray. "There was no way anything external could have gone through on the jump with them. We did everything by the book."

Gray was sitting in his chair with a hand on his chin. "I'm sure you did, Xavir. You said the wave was continuing to build. How much time remained on the countdown when you launched?"

Xavir pulled the spherically-shaped device from his pocket and read the numbers on the face. "We have about 9 hours left."

The sisters exchanged worried glances at the news but Gray kept his eyes on Xavir. "What else?"

"Um, well, you know that timelines aren't flat like the name would suggest… if you were to try to lay out the present next to the past, the past would be at least 100 times as long, but it would have to take up the same amount of space… What I'm saying is, the past is condensed…"

"Time goes faster in the past because it's already happened," Brynn interjected.

"She's no longer pregnant because she had the baby," Karyn said, answering her earlier question. "But the clock is still going."

"The Proffessor – my father – knows as well. The only way to prevent the breakdown of the timeline is to remove all essences of the future from the past. He's sending a team as soon as the Centre's team gets the Llecom ready." Xavir finally slumped into a chair, his adrenaline spent. "I'm not sure what lengths he will go through to fix this."

Gray sat up in his chair. "Kary, see what you can do to get the boys home. Brynn, take Xavir's padd and load it with the Llecom Complex we have in the lab."

As the two women left to carry out their assignments, Xavir looked at Gray with wide eyes. "You already have a supply of Llecom ready?"

Gray nodded. "We kept producing it just in case something happened."

Xavir's shoulders fell. They had expected him to fail.

Gray reached out and put his hand over the hand of the younger man. "Just in case," he repeated, insistently. "We weren't looking for you to mess up, but now you have to go and bring him back."

"Bring who back?"

"Connor."

Xavir blinked rapidly as he finally put the pieces together. Connor was the son of Lois and Clark that had been sent to the future for safekeeping. He had been left with the Guardians, and had lived as the adopted son of Grayson Wayne until the day he decided to don his biological father's cape. "Me?"

Gray nodded solemnly.

"I was the one that brought Connor to the future? But… did you know this the entire time?"

"I suspected it, but not initially."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Xavir sputtered. His mind was reeling with the revelation. It seemed everything about this situation was already planned after all. "I mean, we could have prepared better…"

Gray shook his head. "That's exactly why I didn't say anything, not even to Karyn, Brynnan, or the boys. Regardless of what I thought about the theory of your part in this whole affair – right or wrong – warning you could have given you some information that you weren't supposed to have. You had to take the exact actions that you would have without pre-cognition for all of this to come out right."

He looked at the young man with sympathy. "My stepmother used to quote this line from a book she once read… 'Only God knows the future He designs'…" His face creased into a frown as he struggled to remember the rest of it. "No, it was 'The future belongs to God, and only he himself reveals it'…"

Gray shrugged and smiled at the fond memory of his stepmother's love for prose. "Eh, there's more, but I'm an old man. The point is, it is not by our standards that the future is drawn."

Xavir swallowed. "But why me? Why not send Brynnan, or Connor…or even Kyle? They would have a better chance at convincing Lois and Clark that their son is in danger than I could! Kyle and Connor have superpowers!"

"Connor can't occupy the same timeline twice," Gray explained. He knew that Xavir was aware of that fact already. "The time jump has to be made from the Centre because that is where the Tislor core is being held… and you're the only one who has access."

"Hey, you know that I'd love to ride shotgun with you, Xavir, but we're going to be a little busy on this end," Brynn announced from the doorway.

Xavir jumped at her voice, he hadn't known she was behind him.

"Pop, we've got company coming."

She walked to the table and tapped some commands into the control panel in front of one of the empty chairs. Immediately, LCD screens embedded in the table began to show video feeds from the numerous security cameras located throughout the cave system.

Military mining vehicles were tunneling through the rocky caverns from all possible entry points… including the ones underwater.

Gray struggled not to let his anxiety show. "Let's get you ready to go, Son," he said to the dark-haired young man.

This was one of those days when time was not on their side.

* * *

Lois breezed into the apartment on her way to her room. She could see a little of Chloe's profile through the kitchen doorway as she passed. "Hey Cuz, where's my baby?" she called out lightly. 

"Clark took him to the park with your father."

"Oh, that's nice," Lois commented.

"Wait for it," Chloe muttered under her breath.

Lois stopped in her tracks and her eyes squinted thoughtfully. She slowly walked backwards until she was standing in the kitchen arch again. "My what went where with _who_?"

Chloe grimaced and held up the note she had found on the table. "The General's here."

Lois leaned against the wall heavily and brushed a hand over her hair. "The General. My father." She released a breath. "With Clark and Connor. At the park… Together?"

"Yep."

Lois closed her eyes. "Crap."

Chloe's brows rose.

"How long have they been gone? Was he packing? Did you catch the caliber of his sidearm?"

"I don't know; I didn't see him. The note was here when I got home… Where are you going?" Chloe followed as Lois pushed herself from the wall and practically sprinted to the front door.

"I've got to get there before he does something _I_ regret."

Chloe frowned. "You're worried about what Uncle Sam will do?"

Lois paused with her hand on the door knob and looked at Chloe. "No. I know what my dad will do. I'm worried about what Clark will do. You know how he gets in pressure situations…" She pulled the door open while still facing Chloe. "He goes all noble and does the right thing over the smart one…"

She stopped short as she turned to exit. "Daddy. Hi."

Samuel Lane stood on the stoop looking quite dignified in his military regalia and dark sunglasses. "Lois."

Lois peered past him to where Clark was standing with the stroller on the sidewalk. He gave her a sheepish shrug.

"Hello, Uncle Sam," Chloe said, stepping past her speechless cousin so she could give their visitor a hug.

"Well, there's a greeting I can appreciate," General Lane commented, returning his niece's embrace. "How are you, Chloe?"

"I'm fine," Chloe responded, flicking a glance at Lois as she stepped back. "Would you… like to come in?"

Lois blinked and stepped back after realizing that she had still been preoccupied with sending death glares in Clark's direction.

"Actually, I was going to see if Lo, here, would do me the honor of taking a walk."

"Uh… sure." Lois went outside and walked down the two steps to the sidewalk. "What did you say?" she whispered under her breath as she reached Clark.

"I ju…"

"Lois, shall we?"

Lois turned from Clark to face her father with a forced smile. "Yes, of course."

Clark started to reach down to pick up the stroller so he could carry it into the apartment when the General touched his shoulder. "I think we'll take him along. It's such a nice day. Don't you agree, Lois?"

Lois looked at her father and nodded, fake grin still in place. "Nice day. Yes." To herself, she mused that it was a nice day to die.

* * *

Lois sat next to her father on a park bench. In front of her, eight-month old Connor Lane was leaning forward in his stroller, yelling at the two squirrels that were chasing each other in the grass. 

"I know that we haven't always been the best communicators, but I would have thought that news of this magnitude would have spurred a phone call."

"There is no easy way to tell news of this magnitude," Lois mumbled in return.

The General pulled off his sunglasses and tucked them in his breast pocket. "You know, I came back from my overseas assignment to a report that not only had you decided to take a semester off, but that when you did go back to school, you were at less than full-time. This is quite a shocking way to find out how you have been spending the past year and a half."

Lois looked at him in surprise that he had that much intel on her scholastic activities. "My school records are supposed to be confidential."

General Lane gave her a condescending look. He _was_ Uncle Sam, after all. "Where did we go wrong, Scout?" he asked, using one of Lois's childhood nicknames. "I've been trying to figure that out for years now."

They sat quietly for a few minutes, the only sound being CJ's calls to the park's wildlife.

"I know that things didn't start out right for the two of us. I had my sights set on having a boy and when your mother tried to tell me different, I wasn't the easiest sell. Truth is, I didn't know what to do with a little girl. You came out all elbows and knees and I didn't know if either one of us was coming or going." He smiled sentimentally at the memory. "The nurse asked me to cut the damn cord and I, two-star general at the time, leader of brave men in the service of this great country, left the room in a dead sprint needing a cigar."

Lois chuckled to herself, fondly remembering the day her own child had made his entrance into the world.

"By the time I got back, you were clipped, snipped, and looking like the tiniest little angel ever created. I was afraid to even hold you. We both got through that period without a scratch, though, didn't we?"

Lois remembered being infatuated with her father as a little girl. As she grew, she had realized that he had a dislike of anything girlie, as it served as a reminder of things he couldn't understand. In turn, she had become the quintessential tom boy, following her dad everywhere he went. They had been inseparable. Little Lois Lane was the smallest and best officer Sam had ever had the pleasure of training.

With their relationship blooming, Sam had overcome his awkwardness by the time Lucy came along. Instead of fearing the feminine differences apparent in his youngest daughter, he had embraced them and helped to encourage the traits that made her 'Daddy's Little Girl.'

It was this difference in treatment that had led Lois to rebel. She had given up all things pink for her father - not that she _liked_ pink - but it was the principal of the matter. She wanted to not like pink for herself.

"I didn't even see you rebelling until it was too late. You always were your own person, Lo. And you still are."

Lois reached and pulled CJ from the stroller as he began reaching for her. "Okay, Man Cub. I guess you've had enough of those acorn chasers, huh?"

The baby was obviously uncomfortable and Lois guessed that it was time for a diaper change. When she pulled the diaper bag from underneath the stroller, her father reached for it.

"May I?"

Lois looked at him warily. "I, uh…"

Sam set the bag aside and pulled off his uniform jacket. "I think I still remember a thing or two about how to do this. Please?"

Lois realized with a slight pang that her father wasn't disappointed in her… he was hurt. Swallowing, she allowed her father to take CJ from her. She watched as he turned the stroller around and reached over to help him recline the seat so he could lay CJ down to be changed.

Lois was amused when her dad started talking to CJ as if the child understood everything he said. Her son was in the stage where he babbled in response when people spoke to him. Lois could see that the two had gotten to know each other during their earlier visit to the park with Clark because both seemed at ease. She snapped out of her introspection when her father reached for the diaper's Velcro tabs.

"Daddy, wait!"

Sam turned to face her with confused expression while lifting the front of the diaper off. "What?"

"He aims," Lois warned, grimacing as a tiny arc of urine struck her father's cheek. With the speed and agility that only a mother could muster, Lois used one hand to replace the flap of the old diaper to stop the stream while pulling a wet one from the bag with the other.

Sam accepted the towelette and rubbed his face. "Ah. I see." He used a second wet one to dab at his shirt.

"Sorry," Lois offered, struggling not to laugh at the site of her impervious father becoming the victim of her eight-month-old's target practice.

"No, no." Sam waved her off when she started to finish changing CJ. "A little piddle won't scare me away." He gave Lois a sidelong glance. "At least, not this time."

When he was finished, Lois took CJ back into her arms. It was time for a feeding, and even though it would probably be best if they headed back to the apartment, Lois felt hesitant to end the time with her father. For once, they were healing and not sparring.

"I need to feed him," Lois announced, pulling a blanket out of the diaper bag. "I can do it here, if you don't mind…"

Sam looked grateful for her willingness to stay. "I don't."

Lois nodded, tucked CJ into the crook of her arm, and draped the blanket over her shoulders. She deftly worked the buttons on her shirt and unhooked one of the flaps of her bra while staying covered by the blanket. It wasn't long before CJ was nursing contentedly.

When Lois looked up, her father was watching her with a face of wonder. "We've been doing this two-man show for a while now. We're almost ready to take it on the road," she told him, keeping her voice low so she wouldn't disturb the baby.

Sam smiled softly. "You look like professionals to me."

"I am really sorry you found out like this," she offered. "I just knew that it would be one more thing to add to the list."

"Add to the list?"

"Yeah. The list of things that I didn't do in order. School. Graduation. Career. Marriage. Kids."

Sam's brow creased. He had preached those things a number of times. "I only wanted what was best for you. And now… well, how can I not want what's best for your new family?"

He turned to stare ahead for a few moments before speaking again. "I got word that you were trying to get an advance on your trust. I'm afraid I'm going to have to deny it."

"But, Daddy, you can't…"

He held up a hand. "I know that it's in your mother's name and you can legally go around me if you have to, but hear me out. It's more important for that money to stay where it is. You're going to need it later." He looked at the little foot that was sticking out from under the blanket. "_He's_ going to need it later."

Lois blew her bangs out of her face.

"You're probably wondering what you're supposed to do about the 'right now,' correct?" Sam smiled at her expression. "That's what grandfathers are for. I'd like to pick up where I never should have left off. If you'll let me."

Lois had to look away for a few minutes to replay the events of the afternoon. It certainly wasn't turning out the way she had expected. "Thank you," she mouthed when she turned back.

Sam nodded. "I'm still expecting for graduation and career to get crossed off that list," he admonished gruffly. "If that boy gives you even half of the hell you gave me, it'll be worth my commission."

Lois began laughing, remembering the long list of infractions she committed when she was deliberately trying to punish her father. "I hope not."

Hearing the laughter, CJ unlatched and pulled at the edge of the blanket up so he could see what was going on. He showed them a toothless grin and brought his palm to his mouth and inhaled - his way of blowing kisses.

"You always think someone is talking to you, don't you? Would you eat, Mr. Nosy?" Lois rolled her eyes and shifted CJ back under the blanket.

Sam leaned back into the bench with a smirk. "Oh, Lo. You're in for it with that one." He chuckled and shook his head. "You are definitely in for it."

Lois looked at her father; a urine stain was drying on his olive shirt and the normally starched sleeves were rolled up at the elbows. If her son had this kind of effect on the General, she knew he was right.

* * *

The day after the General's surprise visit, Clark found Lois leaning against the wooden paneling that surrounded their small rear patio. He had been at work when they had returned from the park and when he got home that night, Lois had already gone to bed. 

"Lois…"

"You know, my father told me something interesting yesterday," she interrupted softly.

Clark stayed quiet, knowing that she had more to say.

She turned to face him, reversing her position so that now her back was leaning against the railing. She crossed her arms. "He told me that he approved."

"Approved?"

Lois nodded. "He said that he'd given you his blessing."

Clark cleared his throat. "See, I was going to…"

"According to the General, CJ's father is a stand up young man who comes from a sound home, and I made a good choice. He said he was proud."

"I'm sure that he was just trying to be supportive."

"Of course he was." Lois held his gaze. "I wonder what gave him the idea that you were CJ's father… or better yet, _who_ gave him the idea that you were CJ's father."

Clark looked down at his feet. Over the past few months, his powers had started returning. His developments had been much like the baby's; little by little, appearing unexpectedly. He now had his vision, his strength and his invulnerability back. Those things helped him regain his confidence so that he was once again fearless… with anything and anyone but for the woman standing in front of him.

"He said that he had my nose and chin… and well, I didn't deny it when he assumed that I was the father."

Lois's posture drooped. "I know." That wasn't really the problem. The problem was that when her dad brought it up, she didn't deny it either.

"What are we doing here, Clark?"

"What do you mean?"

Lois waved a hand back and forth to indicate both of them. "This. Us. It's not right."

Clark grew concerned. "Lois…" His words halted when she glanced up. He read the look in her eye. "Don't."

She ignored him. "We're pretending. We're going through each day as if everything is the way it is supposed to be and I've allowed it." She shook her head, her mind on thoughts that were unspoken. "I can't do this. _We_ can't do this."

He took a step forward. "We're not _doing_ anything."

Lois met his eyes and scoffed. "Aren't we? It's almost as if our complete lack of action is an action in itself."

"We have a good system going. There's no reason to change it."

"We have a deal, Clark."

He sighed. He knew that.

Lois turned away again, facing the grey skies. "I've got to know. I need to know that I can do this on my own. When you're here, I find myself leaning too much." She faced him again. "I don't lean."

"You don't have to be alone to know that. You're the strongest person I've ever met, Lois."

Her expression showed that she didn't believe him. How could he, a man who could bend steel, say that and really mean it.

"I'm not talking about muscle strength," Clark said.

"I need to know. CJ's almost weaned."

Clark knew what she was implying. Lois had put off allowing Dr. Chambert to advance her treatment because she was breastfeeding. Now that the baby was moving onto baby food and juices, the options presented by the doctor were back on the table.

"Chloe would still be here," Clark countered. "You wouldn't really be by yourself."

"Chloe's family." Lois didn't have to worry about Chloe's attachment to them. If and when she moved on to start her own new adventures and life, there would always be that bond that would keep her near. It wasn't the same for Clark.

"What's so important about genealogy?" he asked. He was desperate. "I'm the only father he knows."

Lois found it hard to reply. Clark was the one that got up with CJ at night. He was the one that bathed him after his diapers exploded - when Lois tricked him into doing it, that is... And Clark was right about them having a routine. With the help from Chloe and Clark taking turns as caregivers, Lois had been able to start school again. Clark was on Sesame Street detail - the early morning shift. His was the first face CJ woke to see.

She couldn't take that from either of them… even though it kind of defeated the purpose. "We'll keep the schedule the same."

Clark's speed hadn't returned, so he couldn't go back to Smallville, but as a student, he could qualify for student housing. It was late August and the new school year was set to start in a few weeks. His housing packet had arrived in the mail a few days before, but he had been planning on rejecting the offer.

Lois had seen the packet so she knew that he had options. "I don't want to shake up his world too much."

But you don't mind shaking up mine, Clark thought bitterly. He wanted to argue some more, but that stupid deal he had made was still in effect. At least his part of the deal kept him involved. The only thing that was going to change was the place he slept at night. Keeping the schedule the same meant he would be there for everything else.

"Okay," he answered, in defeat.

Lois sighed. "Okay."

Clark looked like he wanted to say something else, but instead he turned and walked back into the apartment.

Lois stayed outside for a little while longer, feeling the slight dip in temperature that indicated the approaching storm. She remained in her position even when the first drops of rain began to create darkened spots on the pavement beyond their little patio. It wasn't until a harder rain began to color in the areas between the dots that she stood up and finally went inside.

Her eyes widened when she saw the bags at the door. She rushed into her room to see Clark leaning on the railing of the crib. He straightened when she entered.

Lois was suddenly panicked. She wondered now if she had wanted him to delay his departure… it was more like him to do something like that, hoping that she would eventually forget what she had asked of him. It was in his nature to be doggedly persistent. "I didn't mean that you had to go right now… tonight…"

"I think I do." Clark gave a final look to the sleeping child and walked over to where she stood at the door. "If I don't…"

Lois nodded, knowing that his thoughts matched her own. CJ was her baby and she needed to make sure that as a mother she could provide for him. That was what mattered more than anything. She nodded again, but didn't trust herself to say anything.

Clark leaned down and pressed his lips to her forehead, similar to what he had done to the baby before Lois had come into the room. "I'll be here tomorrow so you can go to work."

Lois remained at the door looking at CJ lying peacefully in his crib for a few seconds. When she stepped backwards and looked down the hall at the front door, the bags and Clark were gone.

* * *

Chloe could hear the baby crying before she even unlocked the door. When he got going, CJ could wail like an opera singer. She closed her umbrella and quickly darted inside. When she saw Lois sitting on the futon with CJ on her lap, she shook off her jacket, slid off her shoes and moved to sit next to her. It was then that she saw Lois's tears. 

CJ was red faced and miserable; Lois didn't look like she was doing much better. "Lois, what's wrong?"

Lois shook her head and sniffed. "He won't stop crying."

Chloe frowned and looked around with the feeling that something was off. Then it clicked. She had been afraid that something like this would happen since she and Lois had talked six months ago. She should have known that the calm of those months had just been the eye of the storm. "Where's Clark?"

"He's gone." Lois put CJ to her shoulder and began to rock but he was having none of it. His cries took on a higher pitch.

Chloe could see that CJ's mood was stemming from his awareness of Lois's disposition. In her state, Lois couldn't console herself; in return she could be of little comfort to the baby. Chloe reached out and took CJ from Lois's arms.

"You look exhausted."

Lois wiped the tears from her face, which only cleared space for more to take their places. "I'm okay."

Chloe sighed. "Okay, well, I'm just going to go put him to sleep." She stood and bounced CJ against her chest. His cries began to quiet. "Why don't you lie down for a little while?"

By the time Chloe returned to the living room after putting CJ to sleep, Lois was asleep on the futon with her head on Clark's pillow.

Chloe tiptoed down the hall to her room and pulled out her cell phone. He answered it on the first ring.

"Hey, Chloe."

She sighed at his voice. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. Lex is letting me stay at his penthouse until I can confirm my housing assignment." He paused for a moment. "I hate that I'm asking favors again. Some things don't change do they?"

"I guess they don't." Lex and Clark had defrosted a bit since the pre-Thanksgiving dinner, but Chloe knew that fact didn't make Clark feel better about his current situation.

It always seemed that if it wasn't one thing, it was another.

She sighed again. "… I guess they don't."

* * *

**

* * *

****TBC**

* * *


	18. SEVENTEEN

* * *

**SEVENTEEN****

* * *

**

* * *

_-- **Est. Time Remaining: 07:43:01** --_

Fitz's eyes scanned the lab as his fingers rapidly tapped commands into his computer. He had repeatedly been trying to contact Xavir over the past hour but had yet to be successful. Fitz knew that he wouldn't be able to hail Xavir until his shuttlecraft got closer in range to the space station, but he continued trying because he needed to talk to him as soon as possible.

Fitz refocused his attention to his monitor and hid his Comm window as a colleague rushed by. Once the area was clear, he began attempting to contact Xavir again. This time the link was connected. Fitz slid an earpiece into his left ear and activated his text-to-voice program. He would be able to hear Xavir, but his responses were going to have to be typed.

"Fitz? Is something wrong?"

"Go into Hyper Drive," came Fitz's computerized response. He knew that Xavir would recognize the voice as Lerlene. The two of them had used the program to talk to one another during work hours before.

"Hyper drive?" Xavir asked. "If I do that, the emissions will be traceable. I'll be a sitting duck for the security team."

"Doesn't matter. Security is preoccupied. Base ASAP."

"Ausap?"

Fitz shook his head. The computer read everything as words, even when they were acronyms. "As soon as possible. I'll meet you at the bay. Prof is beginning to deploy."

"They're starting already?!"

"Base is in chaos. Get home."

"Fitz, even in Hyper I won't be able to get back for another hour at least!"

Fitz released a panicked breath. Time windows could only be opened at 2 hour intervals. It took at least that long to get the Tislor hot enough to create an opening in the invisible lining that separated time and space. The Tislor was already cooking - all the Professor needed now was a stable Llecom Complex… and that was almost ready.

"I'll stall. You fly. Meet me at the docking bay in one hour."

Fitz closed the connection just as another colleague came rushing toward his workstation.

"Control needs a new reading on the coordinate system helix."

Fitz nodded and picked up his padd. "I'm on my way."

* * *

Overlooking the bustle of workers monitoring the heating Tilsor core from the third level, Kairo drummed his fingers against the railing idly. There usually weren't this many people surrounding the Core, but Xavir and his friend had proven that they needed more checks and balances to the system. Now that they knew that the Hyper Chronos project worked, they needed to make sure no one else would be able to hack in and execute a jump. 

Kairo didn't turn when someone entered the deck and sidled up next to him.

"The Ground Team has yet to make first contact but they are equipped with everything they need."

"And how are we looking up here?"

"Very good, Sir. The debriefing has taken place and everyone is well aware of protocol concerning the package. The job is to correct the timeline, not to interfere with it."

Kairo nodded. "And the equipment? Will the Jump Team be as prepared as our friends on Terra?"

"Absolutely," Merrick assured, handing his boss an item that looked like a pen but had a much thicker barrel.

A small smile flirted at the corner of Kairo's mouth as he turned the tubular device in his hand. He ran his thumb across the small buttons that lined the side. Synaps, the department that focused on Neurological research, had been working on this project non-stop since the Retrhick Resequencing Procedure had been completed. A mobile device was much more marketable.

"The team that created this…" Kairo began questioningly.

Merrick laced his hands behind his back. "They don't remember a thing."

"Excellent."

**

* * *

**

* * *

"Is it bad if I really don't want to do this?" 

Chloe flicked an annoyed glance at her cousin before returning her attention to the road. "Yes, it is bad. Besides, this is not about what you want. It's _his_ birthday." She looked in the rearview mirror and grinned at her godchild's reflection. "Isn't that right, CJ?"

"CJ!" the boy exclaimed. It was one of the few things he said clearly. His other words usually sounded like a tribute to Ewoks. "Soshghu Me!"

Lois laughed at his excited gibberish. After the fuss he had made when they had wrestled him into his car seat, CJ was now thrilled to be going somewhere. "You're right," she conceded to Chloe with a sigh.

Chloe knew why Lois's was so hesitant about this road trip to Smallville. Four months had passed since the night she had found Lois miserable and crying on the futon. As planned, Clark was still a part of the daily routine that took place at the apartment.

On the surface, everything was the same, but everyone who knew the situation was aware of the fragile tension that was always present around those two. The birthday party they were having that weekend at the farm was going to be the first time they would all be together for an extended period of time. Chloe figured that the milestone date that served as CJ's birthday promised to be a breakthrough of some sort - good or bad.

"It's going to be fun," Chloe promised.

An empty bottle sailed from the back of the car, bounced off the stereo face plate and caused the CD track to advance.

Lois picked up the bottle and gave Chloe a sidelong glance. Neither of them could help but join in as CJ's giggles sounded over the music.

* * *

Martha was at the car unhooking CJ from his car seat before Lois and Chloe had even opened their doors. Martha bounced her grandchild in her arms and leaned to kiss Lois on the cheek when she got out of the car. "Hello Birthday Boy!" she gushed, heading toward the house with the baby in her arms. 

CJ squealed in pleasure as Shelby bounded from the barn. They were crazy about one another. "Gog! Woof!"

Lois saw the blue Jaguar XK in the driveway and looked at Chloe across the car. "Hey, look, the gang's all here."

Chloe smiled and rounded the car. She put an arm around Lois's shoulders and led her to the porch steps. "More than you know."

Lois's eyebrows creased at Chloe's statement. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Chloe simply shrugged and reached for the door to the house, allowing Lois to enter before her.

* * *

Lois looked around the room with a happy grin, wondering just who was behind the surprise visit from her baby sister. She caught Clark's eye but he simply gave her an uncommitted shrug at her questioning look. "How long have you been stateside?" she asked, turning back to face her sister. 

Lucy grimaced. "Two weeks. I had to do some peace treaty detail with the old man. You know it had to take a lot to end my extended vacation, but you have some very convincing friends." She exchanged a smile with Lex, who was standing on the other side of the room talking to Chloe. "It also helped that there were no warrants out on my head."

"Did Dad pin your wings?" Lois asked, amused.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "He cut off my allowance… again! But I have to say that he's mellowed out a ton. You have any idea what happened to make him like that?"

Lois followed her sister's gaze to where Jonathan was holding her son. "CJ seems to have that effect on people."

"He _is_ adorable. He must get it from me," Lucy commented as she left her sister's side to go take her turn in wishing her nephew a happy birthday.

* * *

Lois paused at the top step of the porch. The plan was for the rest of the day was to continue the party out at Smallville's annual Corn Festival. She smiled to herself when she saw the mini Fisher-Price Hummer parked next to the entrance to the barn. Her father had sent it with Lucy as a gift for his grandson. "Let the spoiling begin," she mused to herself. 

In the driveway, Martha was watching as Jonathan loaded CJ into his car seat. Chloe noticed that her cousin was no longer behind her and walked back up the porch steps to see what was wrong.

"Lois? You okay?"

Lois nodded and reached into her pocket. "Do me a favor… would you give these to Mr. Kent?"

Chloe reached out and accepted Lois's car keys with a slight frown on her face. She and Lucy were planning on riding with Lex so that the Kents, Lois, and Clark could ride in the car. "You're coming, aren't you?"

Lois smirked. "You think that I would miss CJ's first bout with Cotton Candy?" She threw a look over her shoulder toward the door to the house. "Clark told his mom that he just wanted to clean up a little and then he would come out in the truck…"

Chloe's shoulders drooped a bit. She had a feeling that Clark's decision had more to do with his continued avoidance of Lois in tight places than anything else.

"I'm going stay to help him."

Chloe's eyebrows rose.

Lois smiled at her cousin's expression. "I think it's about time that we had a talk."

"I agree," Chloe replied. "Good luck." She held the key ring aloft and smiled. "We'll see you in a bit, okay?"

Lois nodded and watched as Chloe jogged over to the Kents and explained the situation before handing over the keys. Lois waved as Martha turned and gave her a sympathetic smile. Once the two cars started down the driveway, she turned and headed back into the house.

"Can we talk?"

Clark looked at her and shrugged. "Sure," he said as he continued about his task of putting the used paper plates into the trash bag.

Lois sighed and started collecting the cups. "No, I mean _really_ talk." She placed the cups in the sink and turned to face him, crossing her arms on her chest. "Thank you for Lucy. It was a nice surprise."

He still didn't face her, making himself busy with gathering the forks and spoons. "It was mostly Lex's doing."

"But your idea, right?"

Clark shrugged again, igniting a flame of mild annoyance in Lois. "Clark, talk to me."

"I don't have anything to talk about, Lois."

"Well, I do, damnit."

"I think you've already said everything there is to say."

She stepped away from the sink. It didn't go by unnoticed that Clark moved simultaneously to keep the distance between them. Her eyes closed in an exhausted blink. She had started this dance and now she was tired of it. "I was wrong."

Clark leaned on the counter. "No you weren't."

Lois took another step toward him. When he started to move again, she practically leapt across the space to grab his arm. "Why are you dodging me? Have we gotten to the point where we can't even be in the same room together?"

The muscles in his jaw twitched as he swallowed, but he didn't have an answer. Lois's hand slid down his arm until her hand clutched his. "I. Was. Wrong," she emphasized, her eyes flicking between the two of his to impart her sincerity. "I miss you."

And she did. Clark and Chloe were her best and closest friends. Clark was gone from the apartment but not gone from her days, and still she missed him. Everything was the same, yet it was _different_ in a way she couldn't explain. The strangeness of it all was that she didn't just miss him for what they had… she missed what they could have had. She missed what they hadn't had.

When Clark's eyes moved from hers and his chin dropped, Lois's chest lurched with the fear that she had lost him for good. She reached up and threaded her fingers in the hair at the back of his neck and pulled his lips forcibly down onto hers.

Clark couldn't stop himself from responding to her raw passion and had to force himself to push away and hold her at arms length. "What are you doing?"

"I thought that was obvious." His firm grip kept their bodies from touching. Lois remarked at his gentleness, knowing full well the extent of the power that lay inside of him. "Look at me."

Clark felt his elbows unlock as he got caught in her gaze.

"I _miss_ you."

Clark gulped, not even noticing that she had somehow gotten closer to him. "What about… the other guy?"

"It doesn't matter anymore."

Clark's arms locked again. Her words were at the same time a facade and everything he wanted to hear. The truth was that it would always matter. Until they knew the full story of CJ's conception, it would be something that would haunt their every attempt at being together.

But right now, it was the _attempt_ that was making his head spin.

Lost in his thoughts he didn't realize that the distance he was holding Lois at wasn't far enough away to thwart her intentions. It was the feel of fingers sliding under his shirt that made that fact known. "Lois," he groaned in protest.

There were a million things to object, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what they were at that precise moment. His hand snaked around her hip as he lifted her, supporting her weight when her legs were hoisted to his waist. In a flash, his delayed reaction to her kiss rushed to the forefront of his mind. He turned and stumbled, caught in a struggle between will and passion; desire and strength.

Lois laughed as he deposited her onto the counter that had been at his back. She placed her hands back to balance her abrupt arrival, gasping when Clark leaned into her. Her chin raised as his lips found her neck and as happy as she was that he seemed to have finally decided to get with the program, she knew there was something they needed to talk about first.

"Clark…" A groan escaped from her throat as she straightened her back and sat up. "Clark!"

He was adorably dazed when he detached his mouth from her collar bone. To Lois's base relief, he didn't move his body away from hers. She held up her right hand, three fingertips of which were covered with the frosting of the cake that was on the counter behind her.

"We're still in the kitchen," she whispered. She licked the confection off of her middle and pointer fingers and was about to move to her thumb when he stopped her by grabbing her hand.

Their eyes met as he slowly pulled her hand to his face, sucking her thumb into his mouth so he too could get a taste. Lois suffered a mild form of shock at Clark's sudden seductiveness. She wasn't sure what she had gotten herself into.

"Kitchen," she repeated hoarsely, this time more as a reminder to herself.

It took a great deal of both human and super-human willpower for them to get upstairs with their clothing intact. As they climbed the steps at what felt like a snail's pace, Lois made a mental note to come back and straighten the pictures that were on the wall lining the staircase. A few of the frames had shifted when Clark had pressed her against the wall for an overpowering kiss mid-ascent.

--)

There was an unspoken agreement between the two of them as they went further into the bedroom. They wanted this to go slow even though their bodies ached to increase the tempo. They wanted this moment to last… they wanted to remember it forever.

Clark nudged the strap of her nightgown down with his teeth, inhaling her scent as he went.

"I've never done this before," he mumbled, pulling away slightly.

"You could have fooled me," she replied, looking at him through half-closed eyelids.

"Well, I've gotten started… just never finished." He flushed, knowing that both of them could tell they were way past 'started' at that point. He groaned when she rubbed against him. "I don't want to hurt you," he confessed, his fears surfacing again.

Lois placed her hands on the sides of his face, forcing him to look deeply into her now alert eyes. "You won't. I promise."

(--

She giggled as she fell backwards on the bed with him on top of her. They were really going to have to work on their landings, she thought as he lifted from her. Gnawing her bottom lip while she watched him unbutton his striped dress shirt, she silently hoped they would work on their landings _a lot_. Her hands itched to help him with those damn buttons, but she withheld. It wasn't often that he wore something other than flannel or cotton tees, and she appreciated it. She arched an eyebrow as she contemplated trying it on herself.

She shuddered as his hands started working his belt buckle and the logical side of her brain snapped to attention. "Clark, what about… do you have any…" her hands waved in the air as she tried to get him to catch onto her wavelength without spelling it out. When he continued to look at her questioningly, a sly smile formed on her lips. "I'd rather not hit one out of the park my first time at bat… after being on the injured list and all."

"Oh. Oh!" Clark's head spun from side to side as he frantically tried to think if he had anything in his room. "Don't move."

Lois let her head fall back against the mattress as he darted out of the door. She wondered if it had even been worth mentioning. There was no guarantee that it would work anyway, being that he was…

Clark was back before she could complete the thought, holding the foil package aloft as if it were a gold medal.

Lois lifted so she could prop herself up on her bent elbows. "Come here."

--)

The top sheet rested delicately on their shoulders as they lay facing one another. This was it.

Clark swallowed and blinked lazily. Theirs had been a slow waltz. His eyes implored for permission to have the next dance. It was almost as if she could hear his thoughts again, because her eyes twinkled in response.

Lois slid her leg up along the outside of his and smiled.

That was all the invitation he needed.

(--

"Lois?" Clark's eyes were wide as he looked across the bed at her.

She was staring ahead in a shocked daze with her back against the headboard, the sheet tucked lightly under her arms as cover. She blinked and looked at him when he called her name again. "Did you…?"

He nodded. He had remembered.

"But how…? When?"

"I don't know." He was sitting at the foot of the bed, his lap covered with the same sheet Lois was clinging onto. The explosion of images, thoughts, memories, and touches had sent them flying apart from each other with as much energy as had been evident when they came together.

It was as if floodgates had been opened the moment they had climaxed. The memories were remarkably like the fantasies he'd experienced so long ago. Lois in a nightgown… standing in a darkened hallway… her hand outstretched to him. There was suddenly a substance to those images that hadn't been there before. Now he knew that they were real.

Clark started to slide closer to her, still hidden by the bedding, moving slowly as if afraid that he would somehow repel her like a charged magnet.

Lois looked at him with moist eyes. They had done this before. She didn't know where they were or why she hadn't remembered… but they had definitely done this before.

There was so much they needed to figure out, but there was one thing that was finally answered. "Connor."

Clark blinked as the puzzle piece fell into place for him. His thoughts had been spiraling so much from the sudden discovery that it was _neither_ his first time, nor his first time with Lois, that he hadn't thought about what it meant for Connor. "Connor," he repeated wondrously.

Lois nodded and Clark leaned over until his head rested on her lap. Her fingers twisted into his hair. They sat silently like that for a few minutes before Clark sat up again. "How is this possible?"

It was Lois's turn to answer with the inadequate response. "I don't know." A conflicted expression flashed across her face. "I'm sorry."

Clark frowned. "For what?"

Lois licked her lips and sighed. "All this time… We've been looking all this time, and it was always you."

Clark covered her hand. "You didn't know."

"I should have." She met his eyes. "I think I did."

The creases in Clark's brow grew deeper. "What? How?"

She shook her head distractedly. "I wanted it to be you so bad that I ignored it. Everybody said he looked like you, but I just figured it was wishful thinking or just people saying what they think you want to hear. Most of the time babies don't look like anything, but you've got to say something nice so you say something like, 'Oh, he's got your eyes,' and…"

"Lois," Clark said in an attempt to slow her babble.

"I mean, even dogs start looking like their owners after a while – or is it that the owners start looking like their dogs? I totally missed all the signs. It's like I was driving 100 miles per hour and I just blew by the exit. I…"

"Lois," Clark interrupted. "What are you talking about? What signs?"

"You were the one in my dreams." She scoffed at herself and refused to cry. "All this time. It was your face, but I thought it wasn't possible, so I ignored it."

Clark reached over and gently turned her chin so she would look at him. "I had dreams, too."

That bit of information was new to Lois. "About me?"

He blushed and nodded. "They were, um… I didn't think they were real either."

Her eyes widened. "You're missing memories too."

Their eyes locked in confusion as they both wondered just what in the hell had happened to them.

Clark closed his eyes and massaged his temples. "The time for that possibility has passed …"

Lois's face was a mask of confusion. "What?"

Clark opened his eyes. "Jor-El. He said that the time had passed… because it had already happened."

"Clark, I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Me neither." He blinked in quick succession as he tried to make sense of his out of control thoughts. "Connor… He's mine. He's ours." He was now as sure of that as he was of anything. It was as if he'd always known it.

"Yes." Lois could feel it too.

Clark grinned. He felt that it was important to take a moment to savor that fact. He looked at Lois with pure joy. "Thank you." He leaned in to show his gratitude by pressing his forehead to hers.

"You did as much as I did," she replied when he pulled away. "We know that now…" Her eyes hardened as she was once again caught up by the reality of their pridicament. "That's really all we know, in fact."

Clark nodded at her wry tone. If he had thought they were in an impossible situation when Lois's pregnancy was first announced, their current situation was unbelievable. "I'm going to go the fortress."

"Not without me."

"Lois, there's no telling…"

"I have a few questions of my own, Smallville," she said, cutting him off. "It's not just about you anymore."

Clark sighed and nodded. It was no longer just about him.

**

* * *

**

* * *

"Oh my goodness, look at you!" Lois exclaimed in amusement when Lucy climbed the porch steps with Connor in her arms. His face and shirt were covered with remnants of something blue and sticky. 

CJ grinned and waved at his mother. When Clark stepped out onto the porch after Lois, the child greeted him with a happy, "At-da!"

Lois paused at the word. It wasn't the first time he had used it, but on those other occasions she had just assumed that Connor had been attempting to mimic Chloe's frequent use of "Ta da!" when she played with him. Given the day's earlier events, CJ's gibberish took on a whole new connotation. It was now significant that he only said the word around Clark.

Meeting Clark's eyes, she could see that his thoughts were in line with her own. Somehow the baby known all along what they hadn't.

The sound of Martha's voice pulled them both from their thoughts. "I know you didn't want to miss the Attack of the Cotton Candy, so I took pictures," she announced as she stepped onto the porch trailed by the laughing duo made up by Chloe and Jonathan.

"I'm going to take him to get cleaned up," Clark said, pulling the sticky little boy from Lucy's arms.

Lois nodded stiffly and watched as Clark took her son - no _their_ son, she mentally amended - inside the house. Clark was holding him so closely that Connor wasn't the only one that would need to change his shirt. The look of wonder that she had spied in Clark's eyes when he had looked at CJ for the first time since learning their true connection was one that would remain etched in her memory forever.

As everyone followed turned to follow Clark inside, Chloe could tell that something had happened between he and Lois while the rest of the family was at the Corn Festival. Unfortunately, from her point of view, it didn't look like things had changed for the better. Now, in addition to them avoiding one another, it looked like Lois and Clark were not even comfortable being in the same room together.

Lucy pounced on Lois the moment she made it through the door. "I thought you were supposed to meet us out there."

Lois shrugged. "Something came up."

"I'll bet," Lucy remarked with a sly smile. Her father had told her that he had given Clark his blessing, so in her mind, her sister had taken advantage of an opportunity to have an afternoon alone with her soon-to-be fiancée.

Chloe eyed Lois warily, wondering what had transpired during the talk earlier. Unlike that of her younger cousin, her imagination painted a picture of the two arguing for the entire four hours that the rest of them had been gone. She snuck a glance around the kitchen, observing that everything _seemed_ to be in place. She made a mental note to check the trash for broken dishes later.

"Where's Lex?" Lois asked, peeking through the window over the sink. The fancy sports car hadn't returned.

"He got called to an emergency meeting," Chloe replied.

Lucy chuckled. "He _really_ had a hard time leaving her side, though. Chloe practically had to convince him that it was okay for him to go. He had that Lost Puppy look until she promised to call him later," she explained, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

"Lucy!" Chloe exclaimed. "It was not like that."

Lucy shrugged innocently. "He looked pretty convinced to me."

Chloe turned to face Lois with wide eyes. "It was _not_ like that," she insisted.

Lois nodded. "I believe you." When Chloe turned back to face Lucy, Lois winked at her sister over her cousin's shoulder.

Lucy returned with a wide smile but wisely chose not to pursue the topic. "Well, I had a wonderful day with my nephew and I look forward to taking my place on the Spoil Brigade."

"Oh, not you too," Lois groaned. "I need _somebody_ to play Bad Cop around here."

"No, seriously, Lois. He's beautiful. I never thought I would see the day you became a mother… someone _else's_ mother, that is. But I think it suits you."

"Thanks, Luce." Lois stepped closer and wrapped an arm around her sister's neck, placing a kiss on her temple.

"Okay, so now that the Hallmark moment has passed, what are we doing tonight?"

Lois was torn. She wanted to spend time with her sister but there was a serious family talk that needed to take place between she, Chloe, Clark and the Kents. Lucy was a member of the family, but this was a conversation that she hadn't yet gained security clearance for.

"Uh… I was thinking that I would spend CJ's birthday with him, you know? I already feel badly about having missed the festival," Lois said apologetically.

"I had a feeling you were going to say something like that, so I made plans."

Lois shot Chloe an incredulous look, to which Chloe shrugged in return. "You made plans?"

Lucy nodded. "In Metropolis. I called a couple of friends of mine to let them know I was in town…"

"Smallville is hardly _in town_," Lois interjected.

Lucy waved away her correction. "… and they're coming to get me so we can go out."

Lois rolled her eyes. Lucy had friends in every major city in the world. She was accepted in more places than Visa. "You made plans before I said no?"

"I will be back tomorrow morning and then we can do all the sisterly bonding you want," Lucy promised.

"Morning?" Lois questioned in amusement.

Lucy's face scrunched thoughtfully. "Make that afternoon."

Lois laughed and hugged her again. "I thought so."

* * *

Lex held the folder that Diego had just handed him with some contempt. It was obvious that he had not been implicit enough when he told his people that he was not to be disturbed today. Today, of all days, was supposed to be about family. 

Then again, Lex knew that his staff would never understand that family was someone other than the raving blind man in the asylum.

With an annoyed sigh Lex glanced at the folder in his hand and set it down on the desk in front of him without opening it. "This had better be important."

Diego nodded curtly. "It's about the restoration project, sir."

Lex frowned. He had learned that much from the title on the folder; which was why he hadn't opened it. The project was self-explanatory. It didn't require his input… a fact that he had counted on after he had requisitioned the venture. "The caves? I thought you knew that I wasn't to be bothered with the details…"

"Yes sir, I did know that," Diego said, daring to interrupt his boss. "The restoration of the caves has reached its final stages. The facing and etchings have been preserved and the structure itself is nearing the stability point required by the Historical Society, but something else has come up."

Lex massaged the back of his neck and lowered himself into the waiting chair. "Continue."

"As you are aware, sir, your father had employed a considerable amount of resources when he was conducting his survey of the site. Some of the security sensors at the entrance came back online after the external damage was repaired."

Lex narrowed his eyes and nodded. That was how they had discovered that people were trying to access the caves while they were still unsafe. The safety concern prompted the installation of fences and a 24-hour security detail.

"Well, recently another set of sensors has come online as well." Diego stepped forward and opened the folder. Finding the page he wanted, he pushed the file closer to Lex. "We are getting some kind of electromagnetic reading from this area here, which should be impossible because it is solid rock."

Lex looked down to see what Diego was pointing at and sighed. It seemed that something was always trying to drag him back into the past dark part of his life. At one time, like his father before him, Lex had been obsessed with the lore involved in those caves. The obsession had cast him dangerously close to the fire of madness that now consumed Lionel; a fire that had also caused him to look upon his closest friends with suspicion.

But now, things were different. His life was different, _he_ was different. He had earned a spot in the group of family and friends that he'd always admired, and he done it through honesty, transparency, and trust. The images on the desk in front of him presented a crossroads of sorts. One fork promised answers, the other promised questions. One promised need, one promised desire.

One promised future. One promised family.

Lex looked up to meet the question in Diego's eyes. He awaited instruction.

"Dismantle the project."

* * *

Chloe's mouth dropped at the announcement. 

"How can you be sure?" Martha asked.

Lois was sitting on the couch playing Patty-Cake with CJ, who was on her lap facing her. Clark was on the opposite side of the room, leaning against a wall with his arms crossed on his chest. His parents were seated together on the other couch across from where Chloe stood in front of the window.

"We just… remembered," Clark replied.

Chloe looked between Lois and Clark. "What were you doing that made you remember?"

Lois's eyes flicked to Clark's and they both looked away. "Hugging," Lois answered curtly.

The only person in the room that didn't catch the underlying meaning in that look was the baby. Chloe coughed. "Wow… That's… wow."

Jonathan's face turned stern. He looked at Clark first. "The two of you…" he said, looking to Lois now. "…While you were still living here?"

Not only did the startled family patriarch have evidence that coddling had indeed taken place under his roof, he now knew that it had just happened again.

Lois decided that the room was becoming unbearably hot. "Actually, I don't think we were at the house during the first… altercation." She shot Clark a look pleading for help.

Clark swallowed. "It wasn't at the house," he confirmed.

Jonathan's eyes narrowed. "Then where exactly…?"

"That's the part we both are having trouble figuring out," Lois mumbled sheepishly.

Martha smiled softly and reached for her husband's hand. "Relax, Grandpa," she told him. "You can scold them later." She shot both young parents a stern look to say that the scolding would definitely come later.

The newly confirmed grandfather met his wife's eyes and forgot all about the lecture he had been preparing in his mind. He slid his arm around Martha's shoulders and looked at his son. "I don't know what to say. You two don't remember anything else?"

"Like _why_ you didn't remember earlier, for instance?" Chloe quipped, doing her best to help keep the _other_ awkward conversation at bay… at least while she was around, that is.

Clark ran a hand through his hair. "No. We talked about that night…" He trailed off as he thought about his earlier realization that his waking up naked almost two-years ago had been a result of their forgotten interaction. "This whole time, we've been thinking that Lois was the only one who lost memories but obviously I did too."

At that moment CJ decided that he'd had enough of Paddy-Cake and threw his hands over his head in surrender. He buried his head in Lois's neck and began to whine. Lois knew that he was tired but was hesitant to leave the room before they had gotten to the central part of the discussion. She started rocking back and forth in an effort to sooth him. Upset when she didn't give in and let him nurse, CJ twisted out of Lois's arms and began reaching for Martha.

Martha rose from her seat to rescue her grandson. "This is all a bit much to take in at once," she said, returning to her seat next to Jonathan. She accepted the baby blanket from Lois and spread it across her lap. Laying CJ onto of it, she began bouncing her knees and rubbing his back lightly.

Lois smiled when CJ's eyes fluttered closed and he began humming. He was entertained with the way his voice undulated with Martha's motion. Seeing how well he was cared for made her feel less anxious about the decision she and Clark had made.

"It is a lot," Lois agreed, jumping to her feet and beginning to pace. "But, at least now we know where to go for some answers."

"Where is that?" Jonathan asked.

"To the Fortress," Clark answered. Lois's pacing had brought her to his vicinity, and he reached out to pull her to a standstill next to him. "When I asked Jor-El about having children, he said that the opportunity had passed..."

"… Which basically was saying that it wouldn't happen in the future, without saying anything about what had already happened before…" Lois chimed in.

"… Because it had already happened in the past, and if he knew _that_…

"… Then he should be able to tell us what _really_ happened and why we can't remember," Lois finished.

Chloe looked between the two with an amused smile. Either they had practiced that act or they were eerily in tune with one another. "I guess we're making a trip to the caves tonight."

"Actually, we already went," Clark said.

Jonathan looked surprised to hear that. "And what happened?"

"We never made it inside. LuthorCorp has entered the final phase of the restoration project and they have the entire place under surveillance."

"Oh, I totally forgot about that," Chloe said. Months ago, Lex had told her that some local teens had been sneaking into the caves. Since it was in charge of the restoration, Lex's company was also liable for any insurance claims due to injuries on the site. The company had installed security personnel, fences, and most importantly, cameras.

"What are you planning to do now?" Martha asked.

"We're looking at a road trip," Lois quipped, attempting to sound more confident about it than she felt. If they couldn't get answers from this last ditch effort then the answers weren't coming.

"Road trip?" Chloe scoffed. "To the Artic Circle? You plan on driving your SUV to the North Pole?"

"Part of the way, maybe… then take a plane, or a train… a dog sled or two," Lois returned, matching her cousin's playful tone. "We haven't really figured out the details yet."

"I'm going to go put this little guy in the bed and then we can try to come up with a solution," Martha announced.

Lois's gaze focused on her slumbering son as Martha gathered him into her arms and rose from the couch with a little help from Jonathan. She silently watched as the older woman carried him toward the stairway. CJ's portable playpen was set up in Clark's bedroom, where Lois and Chloe were going to be spending the night.

"He's going to need to be changed before he's down for the night," Lois muttered, following Martha to the stairs.

Martha watched with a fond smile as Lois undressed the sleepy baby. They both knew that the grandmother could have handled changing CJ's diaper and clothes, but Martha understood what was making Lois feel a little clingy that night.

Lois accepted the pajamas from Martha with a grateful smile. "I know that we don't have a plan yet, but when we end up going I was hoping…"

"You don't even have to ask, Lois."

Lois chuckled softly. "I just feel better about going if I know that he's safe."

Martha nodded and softly stroked the CJ's hair. Lois had been letting it grow long enough that it was starting to get a little curly. "I bet he looks just like Clark did at this age."

The comment took Lois aback for a second. She had to remember that Martha and Jonathan didn't get Clark until he was three. "I can't imagine you guys without Clark. It just seems like he's been with you forever."

"It feels like that for us too."

Lois's was lost in her thoughts as she finished dressing CJ. She picked him up and held him to her chest as she soothed her cranky child back to sleep.

"I don't know what I would do without this little boy," Lois confessed, finally breaking from her thoughts. "I am in awe of the courage Clark's biological mother must have had to be able to let him go."

"I am grateful for her courage," Martha said. "Knowing that she was doing the best for him… taking the chance to preserve his life when it was in danger. Sending him to a place that would be safe… It's a decision that I don't know how anyone could make, but it is one that could only be made by a mother."

Lois took in the words. What Lara-El had sacrificed so many years ago had made it possible for her to be holding her own precious child right now. In protecting Clark, Lara had saved so much more, and Lois was just as appreciative as Martha was. Lois didn't think that she could have done the same thing, and yet she hoped that she would have if put in the same position. There was nothing more important to her than making sure that her son was okay.

Placing a kiss against his temple, Lois handed the child to his grandmother, somehow knowing that Martha needed the comfort of having his slight weight in her arms as much as she did.

* * *

No one had moved from their positions when Lois and Martha returned to the den. Jonathan was still sitting on the couch, thoughtfully stroking his chin. Chloe was still standing at the window, and Clark was leaning against the wall with his hands tucked in his pockets. 

It was obvious to Lois that the information bomb they had dropped was still having residual fallout effects. Clark looked up and met her gaze when she entered the room behind Martha. The look in his eye almost made her believe that everything was going to go smoothly from here on out. Almost.

"I'm going to go close up the barn for the night," Jonathan announced, rising to his feet.

"Dad, I can do that…" Clark offered, pushing himself from the wall.

"No, Son. I'd like to do it." Jonathan walked to the front door and pulled his coat from the little closet. "Lois, would you mind giving me a hand?"

Lois's eyes widened and she threw a panicked look to Clark. So much for things going smoothly. "Uh, sure… okay," she replied, joining Clark's father at the door.

"Clark, maybe you could join me in the kitchen. I noticed that the cake was still out," Martha said. "Chloe, honey, you don't mind if we leave you here for a few minutes?"

Chloe's eyebrows rose as she shook her head. It was obvious that the parental units were looking for some one-on-one time with the lovebirds. She bit back a smile as she replied. "Oh, not at all! I need to make a phone call anyway… I'll just do that right quick… on the porch."

* * *

Lois followed Mr. Kent into the barn as if she were an inmate being led to an interrogation room. The action of wrapping her arms around herself wasn't entirely for warmth. 

"It's always hard for a father to recognize that his kids are adults," Jonathan started.

Lois grimaced, hoping that this wasn't going to turn into a discussion about birds and bees. A minute ago she had been silently questioning herself if she could possibly be in a more uncomfortable position. She suddenly knew the answer to that.

"I suppose that the two of you plan to start living together again?"

"Um… We really hadn't talked about it… I guess so," Lois stammered.

Jonathan grunted. "The first time around – when Clark made those living arrangements with you and Chloe – Martha and I were not very pleased."

Lois nodded. She knew that.

"Considering the way things have turned out," he gestured toward the house with a hand and continued. "I'm actually glad that the boy didn't listen to me." He allowed the hint of a smile to soften his face. "But if you tell him I said that, I'll deny it."

Lois was so relieved to see the smile that she probably would have promised anything. "I won't tell him," she quickly replied with a light chuckle.

Jonathan half sat, half leaned against a wooden table covered with miscellaneous tools, rags and pieces of rope. "The two of you share something extremely special and extremely important. You will never have a job that will require more from you than will the duty of being parents. You owe it to your son to make sure everything you do, every decision you make, is in his best interest."

"I know," Lois said in a soft voice.

Jonathan nodded. He knew she did, but it was still his duty as a parent to pass on the lesson. "That includes your living situation."

Lois met his eyes with a slight apprehension.

"I'm not saying that you shouldn't live together," he said, raising his hands. "As much as anyone else around here, I would be delighted if the two of you could solidify Connor's environment… I just want you to take it slow… to make sure that it's right. I know that you've already been living together, but everything is different now. A major portion of your relationship is new."

Lois's gaze inched away from his pointed look. Speaking about anything remotely close to sex with a parental figure was just plain torture. She cleared her throat. "It is… new," she uttered lamely, struggling to find something to say.

Jonathan laughed. He was quite fond of the young woman who had stolen the hearts of every member of his family. She had given so much more in return. "Lois."

Lois's looked up at the sound of her name. All of her fears and doubts were climbing to the surface yet again.

Seeing the look on her face, Jonathan lifted from the table and walked over to her, placing his hands on her upper arms. "Honey, do you love him?"

Her eyes widened even more. "I…" It was something she hadn't even admitted to the _him_ in question yet, but something she had admitted to herself long ago. She nodded.

Jonathan grinned and pulled her into a hug. "Then the rest will work itself out… in time."

**

* * *

**

* * *

**TBC**

* * *


	19. EIGHTEEN

* * *

**EIGHTEEN**

* * *

**

* * *

**_-- **Est. Time Remaining: 06:49:22** --_

Fitz ducked inside the shuttle as soon as it reached the docking station. On a space station like the one the Centre called homebase, limited resources required that there could only be a certain number of people on board. That meant that everyone who served on the station had to have a designation and a set of responsibilities that they were to carry out so that the space society could exist efficiently and securely. Most of the people on the station were scientists engaged in the numerous projects that the Centre supported; the ones that weren't scientists were primarily security personnel.

Fortunately for Fitz and his friend, Xavir, those security personnel were quite busy at the moment. Between monitoring the advance of ground troops on Terra, protecting the Tislor core from rogue access, and preparing for a time jump, those members of the Centre's staff were unable to keep tabs on every shuttlecraft that entered and exited the bay. Instead, the computer system was set to check the identification of any visitors to the dock. If the newcomer was not in the system, the shuttle bay would go into lockdown and a tranquilizing spray would be utilized until security could return.

Which was why it was _quite_ fortunate for Fitz and Xavir that they both were in the system.

"We've got to move. Kairo's team is going through the window as we speak," the red-head announced as he shoved a black jumpsuit into Xavir's arms. "Put that on."

Xavir looked at the security jumper with surprise. Fitz was wearing a matching suit. "How did you get these?"

Fitz rolled his eyes and turned his back so his friend could dress in semi-privacy. "I'll tell you what - you get back in before the countdown hits zero so we are not vaporized by an imploding timeline and I'll tell you all of my trade secrets… You dressed yet?"

"Almost," Xavir replied.

"Almost will have to do," Fitz said, turning and pulling Xavir by the arm toward the craft door.

Xavir stooped to grab his boots as he hadn't had a chance to put them on yet. "Did you get any information on who the Professor is sending or how many agents are jumping?"

Fitz shook his head as he peered out of the door. "I was lucky to even know that they had started. Kairo's got everything under lock and key requiring special clearance levels." He turned and smirked to the other young man. One thing playing in our favor is that I'm a little special. Let's go."

Xavir hopped from foot to foot as he struggled to put his boots on while following his friend.

"Here's the tricky part," Fitz started to explain as they entered the hall. "We've got to get a remote window open for you as soon as possible…"

They both quieted, walking briskly and with purpose as two scientists in blue suits brushed past them. Fitz turned to look over his shoulder to make sure they were out of hearing range before picking up where he left off.

"I got the same room we used last time," he said, leading the way to the described destination. "Please say you were able to get enough Llecom for the trip."

"I've got more than enough," Xavir assured. "I could take two trips there and back if I needed to."

Fitz shuddered. After the trouble Xavir's last time jump had caused, he was wary enough about just one trip – the possibility of two of them didn't make him feel better.

"I've set up a workstation in the medical bay so I can monitor the timeline while you are gone. Once you go through, that countdown monitor I gave you will no longer be in sync with our clock here."

"So it'll be no good?" Xavir asked, pulling the item in question from his pocket and looking at the reading: _**5:18:37**_.

Fitz shrugged. "About as good as a stopwatch, I guess. It will take a final reading when you hit the vortex, and continue counting down from there. As long as nothing causes anymore fluxes in the line, the time it gives you should be accurate.

"It just jumped," Xavir announced with dread.

"They're getting ready to seal the breach," Fitz realized. "Let me have your padd – we've got to get you through a window before it fully closes." The emission reading from a second window would be harder to detect if it occurred simultaneously.

Xavir handed the padd to him. "They've got a head start. I don't know how I can compete with that."

Fitz frowned and risked a second to look away from his work calibrating the padd to look at his friend. "You have something they don't. Experience and inside information." He held the padd aloft. "Besides, they are going to be combing the streets of Metropolis while you know exactly where to go."

Fitz finished tapping some commands into the device. "I'm using the same coordinates from last time," he said while he worked. "Ready?"

"If not now, then when?" Xavir quoted with a sigh. "If not me, then who?"

Fitz nodded and handed the padd back to Xavir. "I try to never ask questions unless I know there is an answer."

Xavir smiled and held out his hand for his friend to shake. "I guess this is it."

Fitz reached out and returned the gesture before pulling his friend into a hug. He could think of no inspirational words to send his friend off to save the world with. He pulled back and cleared his throat.

"Good luck."

Xavir looked down at the padd's screen and entered in the final command that would engage the time window Fitz had programmed. To their right, the air between the two firends and the far wall took on a rippling chalky texture as a white circle of light formed a ring around the hole. Fitz looked on in wonder as Xavir took a step closer to the opening. The sensation of the wind that was tousling his spiked red hair was the closest he would get to crossing into a past he didn't belong in – and though he didn't see himself as a coward by any stretch of the meaning – that was all right with him.

His job was to watch Xavir's back. And that was exactly what he planned to do.

* * *

**

* * *

**Lois glanced to her right and gave her companion the thumbs up sign.

It had taken a month of planning, organizing and deliberating, but they were finally on their way. It had all started to come together when Chloe had suggested that they get a little help from a friend.

Everyone had turned wary eyes on her. As much as they were enjoying Lex's turn around in personality, they weren't ready to give him 'carte blanche' access to the family's Hall of Secrets.

(--

"Not Lex," Chloe replied, knowingly. "AC."

The name caught Clark off guard. Since their last encounter at the Pre-Thanksgiving dinner, Clark was aware that there was more to the swimmer than what was seen on the surface, but he still couldn't see how that could help them now.

"Remember the information he came to give me?" When Lois and Clark nodded, Chloe continued, "I think that the contact he made is someone that could help you."

Clark sighed. "I don't know Chloe…"

"Clark, believe me. If I thought there was another way, I wouldn't have brought it up. This guy has a ton of resources and I really think it's worth a shot."

'This guy' had turned out to be the one and only Oliver Queen, heir to the Queen Industries throne… and all of the money and political stature that came with it. After a few meetings with AC and his new pal Ollie, it became apparent that Queen was nothing like the spoiled twenty-something billionaire that the press painted him to be. When he started revealing the causes he supported behind the scenes, it became clear to Lois why he and AC were able to form an alliance of sorts.

The blond, goatee-wearing heartthrob relished in the fact that the public saw him as a loafing and carefree individual, undeserving of his position and status. It made him that more invisible as the masked vigilante persona he donned at night.

Sitting at the table in Ollie's boardroom in Star City, Lois had been quiet during much of the discussion. Queen was apparently happy to help them get to the edges of the earth using his company's means of transportation.

Lois looked around the table at this boy's club in the making and felt the returning twinge of aggravation. She shouldn't have been upset by it, but the fact that Clark had felt open enough to spill the secret of his abilities with the two ecological avengers irked her. Sure, she knew that it was necessary if they were going to get to the Arctic, and inevitable since AC already suspected something, but it didn't make her feel better. Even though AC and Oliver didn't know the true story behind Clark's powers, Lois was still peeved that they had been let in on the secret so quickly when she had been kept in the dark for years.

"Once you are in Alaska, the chopper will be equipped and ready to go. You'll just need a pilot you can trust. That could be difficult," Ollie said with a twinge of doubt entering his tone.

Lois sat up and finally decided to join in on the conversation. "No it won't."

Smirking when the three men turned to her with surprised looks, she found it amusing that she, without gadgets or superpowers, had something over the rest of them. "_I_ can fly."

--)

Smiling at the memory, Lois checked the dials and shifted in her seat. She could fly this thing in her sleep and with the soothing lull created by the passing white landscape; she was in danger of doing just that. Scanning the land outside her left window, she allowed her thoughts to turn to her cousin, who had opted to sit this part of the adventure out.

It had been a surprise for Lois when Chloe had informed her that she was volunteering to take the role of lookout by staying behind while Lois and Clark made their Arctic expedition. Chloe knew that the disappearance of all three of them would look very suspicious to anyone on the outside, namely Lex, and wanted to have plausible deniability. Chloe had always buffeted their reservations about Lex with the statement that people deserved second chances.

Her decision to remain in the dark about the exact location of the Fortress of Solitude finally allowed Lois to see how willing her cousin was to allow Lex his rebirth. Lois prayed that he would make good use of it.

(--

"Okay, I can forgive you for not going all Aspen-Extreme with us, but if you do _this_ I will personally revoke all of your cool points," Lois announced, blocking the door to Chloe's bedroom.

"You can't take cool points from the master." Chloe laughed and threw a balled up pair of socks at her cousin, forcing Lois to release her hold on the doorframe in order to catch the cotton torpedo.

Lois sighed and carried the socks over to the bed where Chloe's suitcase lay open. "Please don't leave me."

Chloe looked up from her packing and matched Lois's pouty expression. "Don't give me that pitiful look," she whined. "I have to go before we turn into a really skewed alternate version of Three's Company. Then _none_ of us would have any cool points."

Lois grimaced at the thought. "That would never happen unless you started walking around in a full body leotard."

"Spandex! All Spandex!" Chloe exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, posing with her hands on her hips.

Lois struggled not to laugh but gave in. "See… look at us. We're a unit. You can't break up the team."

Chloe smiled sadly and grabbed Lois's hand, pulling her next to her as she sat on the bed. "I will always be a part of the team, Cuz, but I think there's a different unit you need to start working on. Don't you?"

Lois frowned. The truth about CJ's parentage had left the three friends in awkward positions. It seemed that knowing the answer to a question that had plagued them for so long was not the quick fix they desired. Lois and Clark were back to dancing around one another, unsure of how to be co-parents, and unsure of how to be more.

Chloe knew that one way to get the ingredients meshing was to throw them in the pot together. "It's time for Clark to move back in."

"I'm not saying that it isn't," Lois returned. "But we were doing fine with the three of us here before…"

"That was before the two of you started doing the Hokey-Pokey."

"Chloe!" Lois covered her eyes with her hands. "That is one of CJ's favorite songs. Ew!"

Chloe started giggling.

"Don't ever call it that again. I beg of you." Lois shuddered. "… And we haven't done anything since… then."

"Maybe you should."

Lois gave her a wide-eyed look. "I liked you so much better when you weren't trying to _pimp my ride_."

"Well, the manufacturer does recommend a tune-up every…"

"Red light. Stop. I am not going there with you," Lois exclaimed while pulling a folded tee-shirt from the stack on the bed and throwing it at her squealing cousin.

Chloe snatched it from the air and started re-folding it. "All I'm saying is that you and Clark need to figure out where you stand in all of this and you won't get very far with me in the way."

"You could never be in the way, Chloe."

"Thank you for that," Chloe said, pausing her folding long enough to give Lois a sideways hug. "But you and Clark won't be as _free to 'be'_ as long as I'm in the next room. Am I wrong?"

Lois chose not to answer. "Maybe I should be the one to move out. I mean, how fair is it that you get to move into a penthouse apartment? Are there added benefits to this package?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Lo, tell your mind to cancel that side order of gutter."

"You started it by tainting the children's song, you know." Lois shrugged nonchalantly. "It's one thing for Clark to live there, but you…"

"It's not even like that, and you know it."

"I _do_ know it, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

Clark had been living with Lex since he'd left the apartment. At first, the arrangement was supposed to be temporary, lasting only until Clark's University housing came through. Lex had been so relieved that he was finally able to help out that he had insisted that Clark stay, and their relationship had thawed even more. With as much time as Clark spent at the old apartment and the time that Lex spent traveling for work, they rarely were at the penthouse at the same time.

Now, she and Clark were essentially trading spaces, and Chloe could tell that there was more than concern for her welfare behind Lois's late objections to the deal.

She studied her cousin's profile. "What are you scared of?"

Lois hopped up from the bed and glanced at her watch. Clark would be bringing CJ back home after their Boy's Day Out soon. "Scared?" she scoffed. "Lanes don't scare."

"Lois."

Lois swallowed and met Chloe's look of skepticism. "This thing with Clark… it's all built around CJ. I can't help but to wonder if we would feel the same if there were no baby." She frowned at the thoughts she had refused to voice for so long. They seemed traitorous in a way and she immediately wanted to take them back. She didn't even want the possibility of not having her baby being put out there in the universe.

Chloe saw the emotions flick across her cousin's face. "There _is_ a baby. He's your baby and he's Clark's baby. That's what you're _supposed_ to build on."

Lois released a breath and changed to a less tense subject matter. "I can't believe you won't be here. It feels like the ending of an era or something."

"The cousins can never be stopped, Lo, and besides, every ending is really just a beginning."

--)

"You okay?"

Lois blinked away her thoughts and nodded. "Yeah," she responded, yelling to be heard over the whir of machinery. She chuckled when she realized that it was an unnecessary gesture since her partner in crime had sonic-powered ears.

Clark considered pressing but decided against it. Her eyes no longer looked misty and he felt that it was probably best not to bring up whatever was bothering her again. Instead he pointed at something through the windshield. "That's it."

Lois looked down at the white expanse and back to Clark. "That?" From her aerial view, the large embankment looked more like a non-descript mountain than an alien fortress. She supposed that the camouflage was crucial but she mused to herself that a big gold arrow would have helped to point out their destination. There was no way she could have found this place without Clark.

She nibbled on her bottom lip as she contemplated a landing zone. "Do you mind?"

Clark looked at her questioningly. "Mind what?"

Lois removed a hand from the yoke long enough to point two glove covered fingers at her eyes and then the ground. "Scope out a parking spot for us - We only get to do this landing once and I'd rather not have it be on the Ocean floor."**

* * *

**

* * *

_-- **Est. Time Remaining: 04:52:19** --_

Gray ran a hand along the statue's arm with mild regret. "This is where we part ways, Old Friend," he muttered to the silent stone.

The copy of Rodin's Thinker had been a constant present in his life for as long as he could remember. Before his family had moved to the underground liar, the statue had presided over the main hall of Wayne Manor. This time, the statue would not be making the trip, but then again, that was the case for just about everything he owned.

"The Flyer's ready," Brynn announced as she and Kyle entered the room behind him. "Kyle is going to carry the Glider since there won't be enough air current in the passageway to get it going."

"Mom's going to ride inside," Kyle added grimly. He was upset about the way they were leaving their home. He had lived his life by the code created by his father and his father's father before him, but the costs had been great. Part of him wanted to take offensive action and fight the attackers instead of running away but he knew that it would be futile. They were outnumbered, and since the opposition was packing Kryptonite, they were also outgunned.

Brynn had left Karyn working on their final reconfigurations of the cavern walls. They were basically throwing rocks in the path of their enemy in an attempt to slow down the miners for as long as possible. Even having done that, the rock barriers were not giving their pursuers as much trouble as they had hoped.

Gray's expression lost any trace of sentimentality as he took a final look around the room. Material things meant nothing when compared to his family. They would all get out together, and that was all that mattered.

The three of them turned when Karyn and Connor entered the room walking at a brisk pace. Connor wore the Superman suit, having been on patrol duty when he'd gotten the call to return home.

"I've opened the North West tunnel for our exit," Karyn told the group. "That area looks like solid rock to their instruments so it gives us our best chance at suitable cover."

Gray nodded. Before him stood all that remained of his family and they were about to leave everything they knew behind. He was no longer a young man, but he was the son of Diana Prince and Bruce Wayne. He had long since retired to the less strenuous behind the scenes activities in the fight to keep the world safe from injustice but now he was going to have to reclaim his position on the front line.

As he took a moment to look into the eye of each of his companions, Gray realized that if they were to survive unscathed, each of them would have to do the same.

"Let's go."

* * *

Lois trudged through across the ice field in the insulated boots and marveled at the cold that seemed to reach through her heavy jacket. The mountain-like structure that towered before them was much larger than it had seemed when they were airborne. Her step faltered as they neared the slight opening; her thoughts a spiral of conflicting feelings.

Clark had revealed that when Jor-El brought him back, he had informed him that there would be no turning back. In some odd twist, Clark had played directly into the hands of fate, making the choices that put him back on the path Jor-El had paved for him in the beginning. Pausing at the entrance, Lois couldn't help but wonder at the way her own life had gotten so intertwined in all of this.

Clark noticed that Lois's pace had slowed as he stepped into the opening. He turned to face her and read the mix of emotions seeping from her. She was anxious, excited, fearful, determined, terrified, nervous, energized and unafraid all at the same time. She was a walking Mad Lib.

He reached out to help her cross the threshold. "Ready?"

* * *

"Kal-El."

Lois jumped as the voice boomed in the large cavern. Even though Clark had told her what it was like to hear a mountain talk, she hadn't been prepared for the deep resonant voice that confronted them.

"I have questions."

"My knowledge is yours."

"The last time I was here, you told me that I could not have children. Why did you say that?"

"The opportunity had passed."

Lois could sense Clark's annoyance growing. If Jor-El were a human being, she would think he was being purposely vague. Her mind began analyzing the responses of the unseen entity in the same manner she used when finding the missing links of a news story.

"But you knew I was already having a child?" Clark asked, incredulously.

"Yes."

"Then why didn't you say that?!"

Lois knew the answer before it was given. "You did not ask."

Clark grew frustrated. He should have seen that coming but when it came to Jor-El, he found it hard to be calm and objective. On one hand, there was all the turmoil he had gone through at the hands of this unrelenting father figure: the demands, the dominance, Jonathan's heart problems, and more. On the other hand, there was the creeping knowledge that Clark had created all of those problems through his rebellion. It was ultimately the guilt that caused him to react so emotionally.

"You could have saved me from giving up my powers - from dying! Why didn't you?" Clark exclaimed. He didn't even feel Lois's hand on his arm, perhaps because her touch was softened by the layers of padding and clothing buffeting them from the temperature.

"Certain events were required to happen in order for this moment to arrive."

"What is so special about this moment?" Lois questioned, speaking before Clark had a chance to do so.

"Destiny follows a path, just as effect follows a cause. Action begets consequence and time leads to event."

She frowned. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Understanding that is what your journey is all about, Lois Lane."

Lois was a bit taken aback that Jor-El knew her name. She suffered an uneasy feeling that she was connected to something immense and unworldly.

Clark saw the evidence of her shock and forced himself to be the calm one. He needed to keep them on track.

"We came for answers about our son. Can you tell us what happened?"

"That inquiry cannot be answered."

The two young parents shared a look and Lois's shoulders drooped. "Why can't you tell us what happened?" Clark asked.

"This artificial intelligence construct has a vast amount of information but is not limitless. Krypton's technological advances allow for my ability to know the past and present history of both this planet and of your native world."

"Past and present," Clark repeated. "Then you should be able to tell us about Connor."

"While potential advances can be documented, future occurrences cannot."

Lois felt like her head was spinning. "What?"

Clark shook his head; he was just as confused as she was. He had known that it would be almost impossible to get a straight answer but had hoped for something different.

"What _can_ you tell us?" he muttered in disappointment.

"You must go now."

"What? Why?"

"A storm is coming. If you do not leave now, you will not have the chance to save this world."

Clark attempted to attune his senses to the outside of the fortress but found that he was unable to hear or see anything beyond the crystal and rock covered walls. Jor-El may not have ever been completely forward with him but Clark knew that he was always truthful. Leaving Lois standing at the crystal altar, he ran to the fortress entrance and looked outside.

Strong gusts of wind caused his hair to flap wildly in the brewing tempest. In the distance, he could see the dark sky approaching on heavy clouds. Out on the ice field, the helicopter strained against the cables he had anchored to the ice floor with picks.

"Lois, we have to go!" Clark called over his shoulder.

So much for not telling the future, Lois thought bitterly. What good was an 'intelligence construct' that could predict the weather but couldn't give a straight answer? "Who saves this world? Is it Clark? Why does the world need saving? When is this going to happen?"

"Everything that is done is done again. Destiny struggles to reassert the pattern that was meant to be. The time has not yet come, but when it does, the decision will be yours."

The voice went silent and all of a sudden it felt as if the temperature had dropped 20 degrees. Lois shivered and wrapped her arms around herself and flashed Clark a worried look as he moved away from the doorway, waving his arms to urge her to come to him.

Lois turned back to the altar. She couldn't leave yet. "Will my son be okay? Will he have powers too?" she asked, forgetting about Jor-El's previous statement about the future. In the midst of this crazy talk about the world ending, her only care was for her child.

The icy caverns responded with a deafening silence.

Clark realized that Jor-El had given them his final words on the matter as he jogged up next to her. There was nothing more to be gained here. "Lois…"

She shook him off. "I need to know about Connor," she said in a steel tone. She twirled in a circle, looking for something to address. "When is this going to happen? Tomorrow?... Hello?!"

"He's gone, Lois." Clark was unsure of what to do. Even under layers of padding and fabric, Lois was showing evidence of being effected by the plummeting temperature. They could not stay. "Come on," he urged, wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her up. "We're running out of time."

"Wait, Clark!" Lois thrashed but gave up when she realized that there was no escaping his hold as he started backing toward the exit with her in his arms. "That's okay. We'll just come back. He'll tell us more next time," she said, bargaining with her conscious about leaving with questions still unanswered.

When Clark shook his head, Lois's eye widened. "Why not?"

"Jor-El told me I would only speak to him once more after he brought me back from being shot..." His words trailed off. It wasn't a pleasant memory: the pain, the despair… the helpless feeling of being pulled away from his life and all that he loved. In that instant – when he had died – he had finally learned what it meant to be human: it was the conscious connection with the world and those around him. It was life. It was love.

Clark turned and looked around the now silent ice mansion sadly. "I guess I'm on my own from here on out."

His words settled heavily on Lois's heart and soul. As frustrated as she was, she knew that Clark was experiencing the same feelings to the nth degree. His final connection to his heritage and his past was now stubbornly silent. She reached out and placed a gloved hand on his chest, hoping that she could make him feel her with him even though the padding made it physically improbable.

She needed to let him know that even though he was being pulled away from his past, there was still reason for hope. The little boy they had created was the only answer they could count on. He was, for both of them, their heritage and their future. "You're not on your own."

Clark looked down and met her gaze.

Lois smiled at him, her eyes narrowing as she wondered what took her so long to recognize her son's face in his. "What do you say we get out of here before that storm hits?"

* * *

Lois's heavy boots did not keep her from sliding on the ice when the wind angrily pushed against her. Clark helped guide her inside of the rocking helicopter cockpit so she could start the engine and propellers while he began removing the anchors. The Queen Industries chopper was an advanced experimental model, so its warm-up time was greatly decreased, but the hazards presented by the weather were unavoidable.

"Damn, damn, damn," Lois muttered, clapping her hands together. She was freezing and now was not the best time to lose the feeling in her hands. She had been forced to remove her large outer mittens to be able to access the switches on the control panel. The gloves that had served as her bottom layer of protection weren't enough to fight the burning cold.

She let out a startled scream as the helicopter lurched violently and slid to the right. She looked out to see that Clark was holding the craft steady by one of the attached cables.

She shook her head at him. "I can't get us up if we're not balanced," she called.

Clark could hear her fine but knew she wouldn't be able to hear him if he responded. Instead he continued to hold the cable with one hand while signaling that he understood her with the other. Using the end of the cable, he kept the copter grounded while making his way to the craft. When he was close enough, he squatted and lifted the helicopter by one of the landing rails. Once over his head, he yanked on the cable to pull the other end free of the ice.

Lois head the cracking sound and knew that it wasn't a good sign. The ice floor began to split in response to the violent retrieval of the anchored tie. Flipping the remaining necessary switches, she activated the rotor and started attempting to gain some lift. She was still struggling to maintain a level balance when she felt the craft get launched into the air.

Too surprised to voice the curses that ran through her mind, she pulled back on the yoke with all her strength, fighting the copter's desired angle of plunge. Just before it could enter low-G, the always fatal condition that caused choppers to self destruct in a free fall, Lois got the copter under control.

Her moment of relief was interrupted when another blast of wind shoved the craft harshly a few meters to the left. Looking down, she could see the Clark's figure growing distant as she fought to find a stable air stream.

"Oh, no you don't," she muttered. She never lost a man on her watch.

Turning into the direction the last gust of wind had come from, she tilted the craft on its side and dove back toward the ice.

Clark read her angle of approach and timed his jump for the second before she corrected. He missed the bottom railing by mere inches… saved only by the fact that he caught it as his jump peaked and he began to descend.

"That was impressive," Lois remarked as Clark climbed through the passenger door.

He shook his head in amazement and buckled himself in with the seat belt. "Where did you learn to fly like that?"

Lois smiled and adjusted as they were rocked by more forceful winds. The dark clouds were gaining on them by the second. "You haven't seen anything yet… Hold on."

* * *

**

* * *

**_-- **Est. Time Remaining: 04:38:52** --_

"Hold on."

Brynn looked over her shoulder with a perplexed expression. She had been about to engage the Flyer's thrusters when Gray's soft command had caused her to pause. "What's wrong?"

"The hatch didn't blow," he replied. Their gazes met with echoed disdain.

Brynn swallowed and turned to her control panel. "Computer," she commanded. "Display HQ. 250 meters extended. Night vision with thermal filter."

The LCD screen in the middle of the dash lit up. She faced Gray once again, her right hand reaching for her ear piece. "There's no way either of us could make it back in time but Connor could…"

"No."

Brynn's brow creased. "We can't just let them get inside!" When they had made their final departure from the underground mansion that had served as their home, the emergency exit had required that everything be left behind. There was no time to erase the computer hard-drives and no time to meticulously destroy all traces of the secret and not-so-secret identities that the members of their families had held throughout history. The self-destruct program had not gone off as planned – and that put them in a compromising position.

Brynnan and Gray were in the Flyer, bringing up the rear of their caravan of evacuees. Connor was waiting for them a few hundred feet ahead in the tunnel and Brynn was confused with Gray's refusal to let Connor in on their current dilemma.

Gray shook his head sadly. "Connor can't go back. They have kryptonite powered weapons."

Brynn sighed in frustration, damning fate once again for the fact that the Guardians had not been able to retrieve all of the meteorites during their global cleanup. They had been largely successful in destroying the deadly rock but the monitoring of the Centre's activities had proved that the Luthors had been retrieving the rocks long before the Guardians had.

With everything the Guardians had done to save the world, they now couldn't seem to save themselves. The fact that she was starting to feel helpless saddened her. The fact that she felt sad angered her. Sadness was not an action word, and she had never believed in being passive.

Brynn looked at the earpiece in her hand. "Then I'll go," she said, beginning to unhook the safety belts that strapped her to her seat.

Gray placed a hand over hers. "Not this time, Champ," he said in an apologetic tone. Then, assuming the rights and powers of his position as leader and authoritarian of what remained of the once strong league of superheroes, he explained what would happen next.**

* * *

**

* * *

**TBC**

* * *


	20. NINETEEN

* * *

**NINETEEN **

* * *

**

* * *

**Clark jogged up the porch steps and pushed the inner door open.

"Hi, Mom," he called, seeing her standing in the middle of the kitchen. He smiled at the sounds of a Mozart CD coming from the den. His mother believed that it would make CJ smarter.

He walked over to her and kissed her cheek, glancing down at the groggy little boy whose head was lying on her shoulder. "Is he sleepy?"

Martha smiled and rubbed the toddler's back. "Actually he just woke up. Give him a few minutes and he will be off like a terror."

Clark laughed. It was true that while CJ was still working on perfecting his walking/wobbling technique, he was amazingly fast when on all fours. Clark leaned to kiss his son's hair. "Did you sleep okay, Buddy?"

"No," the baby replied pushing Clark's face away. He had inherited his mother's grumpiness upon waking up. He was attempting to snuggle his head deeper against Martha's shoulder as she handed him to his father.

Clark glanced around the kitchen. He could see that his mother was in the middle of preparing a late lunch.

"Where's Lois?" he asked.

"Oh, I asked her to run into town to pick up a few items for me," Martha replied, wiping her hands on a towel and returning to her task. "You know I love seeing you guys, but I can't help to wonder why you're here."

Clark shrugged. "We just thought it would be nice to visit."

Martha gave him a 'mother knows' look. "Every weekend?" she asked in a wry tone. She did indeed love having them there so much, but she knew there was more to their constant presence than wanting to spend time with her and Jonathan.

Clark tried to tease a smile from his grumpy child with playful tickles. "Yeah, we all like the farm."

Martha chuckled and shook her head as she cut cheese slices. "Hmmm. It seems to me that you and Lois are avoiding something."

"Avoiding something?"

"The way I see it, the two of you two make yourselves so busy with work, school, and baby stuff during the week that the weekends leave you too much time to deal with the things you've been ignoring."

Clark cleared his throat. "It's just nice to unwind."

"Hmmm," Martha repeated with a nod.

"Peese," CJ said, sitting up and reaching toward Martha with a hand, opening and closing it. "Peese."

"Somebody's ready to eat," Clark interpreted. "Let's see what's on the menu for Master Connor, shall we?"

He walked over to the cupboard area that had become designated for baby stuff and opened it. A colorful line of stacked baby food jars sat waiting. Seeing them, CJ nodded and clapped. "No!" he squealed happily.

"You guys really should try not to say that around him so much," Martha goaded. The child tended to say it all the time. "I'm afraid that's the only word he knows."

"Hey, he was trying to say 'please' earlier," Clark offered with a smile. "It's Chloe's fault. She's really protective of her laptop and for some reason he's determined to try and type on it whenever he see's it."

He pulled out one jar and read the label. "Chicken and Broccoli." The stuff in the container was all green, making him wonder exactly where the chicken was.

"He likes the squash too," Martha offered.

Clark grimaced and pulled the jar of yellow-orange mush from the cabinet as well. "This stuff is so much better when it hasn't been pureed," he told the little boy.

After warming the food up, Clark fastened CJ into a high chair and began trying to coax spoonfuls of food into CJ's mouth while the toddler took pleasure in seeing the way the colors mixed together in his hands.

Martha bit back a laugh as CJ smacked his palm over a fallen glob of food on the high chair tray, sending a splatter of green and orange baby food at Clark's face. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked, handing him a damp paper towel.

"Talk about what?"

Martha pulled an assortment of fruits from the refrigerator and retrieved her cutting board. "Talk about the reason you and Lois don't want to be home on the weekends."

Clark lifted the baby spoon above his head and began making airplane noises. CJ dutifully opened his mouth in preparation for the landing. When Clark swooped in, CJ pursed his lips closed, effectively blocking entry.

Clark shook his head and pulled the spoon back. The motion resulted in CJ opening his mouth again. It was obviously a game to him.

"It's not that we don't want to be home…" he started to reply. Then he sighed. "It's just a little awkward to be so… close and not be _close_," he finished uncomfortably. This wasn't really something he wanted to talk about with his mother.

"You want me to ask your father to talk to you?" Martha asked, correctly reading his thoughts.

Clark blanched. It wasn't really something he wanted to talk about with his father either… There really wasn't anyone with whom this conversation would go easy. AC and Ollie were friends, but they weren't _that_ close yet. "Nooo. That's okay. We're figuring it out."

"Nooo," CJ repeated.

Martha smirked. "You're figuring it out by making sure that you are never alone together?"

Clark cleared his throat and snuck a spoonful of squash into CJ's mouth. "Well… yeah."

Martha smiled to herself as she started loading the sliced strawberries and kiwi into a plastic container. She was in an odd position, a mix between concerned mother and sympathetic advisor. As the former, it was almost a relief to know that her son wasn't taking advantage of his living situation with a beautiful young woman, but as the latter, she knew that the underlying reason for their awkwardness needed to be addressed. They were running from whatever it was.

"What is the problem, Clark?"

Clark briefly looked up at his mother. For a moment, he considered using a minor excuse but chose not to because he knew his mother's intuition already had her circling around the real answer. "I don't want to hurt her again," he admitted weakly.

Martha sighed. "Oh, Honey. What makes you think that you've hurt her?"

"Poons," CJ interrupted, reaching for the spoon. His father had been lost in his thoughts for too long and had forgotten to land the airplane.

"Sorry," Clark laughed, scooping the remaining green mush onto the spoon and leaning toward the child.

"No! Me." CJ shook his head and reached for the spoon. "I do it!"

Clark worriedly handed it to him, betting that most of the green stuff would not make it to its target.

"Clark," Martha said, reminding him that she was waiting for an answer.

"We can't remember the first time we were together, Mom. What if that has something to do with my powers?"

"You can't think like that, Sweetie. Neither of you lost memories the last time, so it is most likely…"

"I didn't have all of my powers then," he interjected. "I do now."

"Have you talked to Lois about this?" Martha asked, already knowing the answer.

Clark looked away. He didn't have to talk to Lois about it. From the way they bobbed and weaved around one another back at their apartment, he knew she was just as afraid of intimacy as he was.

"You need to talk to Lois," Martha insisted.

A car door slammed shut outside and CJ looked up with glee. "Mommiiieee!" he exclaimed enthusiastically, splattering the wall behind him with what had recently been in the spoon.

The door opened and Lois stepped into the kitchen smiling brightly with a paper bag tucked against her side. "Hey, Baby!"

"Mommie! Hey!" the baby called, delighted to see her. He reached for her, dropping the spoon on the floor in his excitement.

"He always knows when it's you," Martha remarked with a chuckle.

Lois laughed. "Hold on one second, Bub." She pulled the colorful wool skull cap from her head and tucked it into the pocket of her jacket. The February day had been a little brisk.

"Up! Up, peese."

Lois put the bag down on the counter and shrugged out of her coat so she could take the child from the chair. "I hear you, I hear you."

Clark watched with a soft smile as Lois attempted to clean the little boy off as much as she could with wet paper towels before releasing him. Once the mess went mobile, it would somehow get on everything in reach.

"Traitor," Lois grumbled as CJ struggled to get out of her arms as soon as she had picked him up from the high chair.

"No," CJ replied happily, dropping to the ground and crawling away.

"Slow down spider-man!" Martha exclaimed, rushing behind him into the den.

"Did you see how he just used me to spring him out of the brig?" Lois asked Clark.

"I couldn't believe you fell for it," he quipped back.

Lois smirked and tossed a towel at him. "So, how'd it go? Did you guys shoot some hoops, toss back some brewskies and watch football?" This was the first time she had seen Clark since he had gone to see AC and Oliver earlier that day.

Clark shook his head and laughed. "That's not what all guys do when they get together, Lois."

"That's what girls do," she retorted with a shrug. They shared a smile before the awkwardness they had been avoiding started to creep back in. Lois moved to unpack the bag she had brought in the house.

"Champagne?" Clark asked, as the items appeared.

"Your mom said she had a date."

"A _date_?" Clark's nose scrunched as he made a face at the thought. "With my dad?"

Lois chuckled. "I think it's cute."

"You're going on a date with dad?" Clark asked as Martha returned to the room holding CJ's hands while he toddled unsteadily before her.

Martha smiled. "He's invited, but he's not my date."

Clark gave his mother a strange look. "Who are you dating then?"

"CJ is taking me to the zoo," she replied smugly.

"The zoo?" Clark looked at Lois and saw that she was just as surprised as he was. "What's the champagne for?"

"The picnic that you and Lois are going to take," Martha informed them. "Now, if you will excuse us, CJ and I are meeting Jonathan at the Aquarium in 30 minutes."

* * *

**

* * *

**_-- **Est. Time Remaining: 03:46:15** --_

"Stupid old man," Brynn muttered under her breath as she gunned the ship forward.

"Stupid, _stupid_ old man." She ran a hand across her eyes, attempting to erase the blurriness caused by threatening tears. She was halfway to the exit where Karyn and Kyle were no doubt waiting for them. From there they would head to their new home.

She glanced at the LCD screen and frowned. The bogeys drilling in from the Southwest were closing in on the manor. There would be no way for Gray to make it back undetected at this rate.

She knew what she had been told to do… and she knew what she had to do.

Her earpiece beeped as soon as she turned off of the path. With a sigh she answered. "Hey, Brother-in-Law."

"Brynn, what are you doing?" Connor asked in a worried tone.

"Running interference," she replied dryly. "I've got to buy Gray some time."

"Buy him some time?" Connor's voice grew panicked. "Isn't he in the Flyer with you?" When his question was met with silence, he got his answer. "Brynn?!"

"The self-destruct failed and he turned back."

"Brynn, I want you to turn around and proceed to the exit as planned."

Brynn heard a tapping to her left and saw Connor flying next to the ship with a determined look on his face. "Now, Brynn. You know I can make you turn around if I have to."

She shot him a wry smirk and gave the ship more thrust. "I know you could, but right now there's no time for that. One of us has to engage these fools before they land right on top of Gray. If that happens, then none of this will matter." Her eyes flicked to her instrument readings. "They've got K-nite, Connor. This is a fight you can't be in."

Connor gritted his teeth together as the ship shot into the darkness. He wanted to fly after her, grab hold of the ship and fly it and its hard-headed pilot to safety. Unfortunately, what she said had been true. If he encountered Kryptonite, he wouldn't be able to help anyone.

* * *

**

* * *

**"There you are!" Chloe dropped into the seat across from Lois. "It's good to know my Lodar is still working."

Lois arched an eyebrow over her coffee cup. "Your _Lodar_?"

Chloe grinned. "Yes. My all-encompassing knowledge of everything Lois Lane… well, _almost_ everything. Maybe I should call it Lo-jack instead."

"Why would you need either of those things?" Lois asked in amusement.

Chloe shrugged affably. "I was looking for an opportunity to visit with my favorite cousin and I'm just pleased that the first place I chose to look was the _very_ place she happened to be… The Daily Planet Coffee Cart."

Lois narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "You need a favor, don't you?"

The petite blonde placed a hand on her chest as if wounded. "That hurts."

Lois tilted her head to the side. "You know I'll help you out, Chlo. Just ask."

Chloe waved a hand at her cousin. "We'll get to that in a minute. First, I want to know how your weekend went."

"It was fine. Just another quiet weekend on the farm." Lois turned her attention to aligning the logo on the little cardboard wrapper with the one on her cup.

Chloe grinned. "Umm-hmmm. So, nothing interesting happened? Nothing… out of the ordinary?"

Lois's gaze returned to her cousin as she tried to discern what Chloe was fishing for. "Um, Clark had his meeting with Oliver and AC."

"Interesting tidbit, and yet, still not what I want to hear about."

"Okaayy," Lois drawled. "I'm drawing a blank."

Chloe threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. "Champagne? Strawberries? Anything?!"

"How do you know about that?" Lois put her cup down on the table and leaned forward.

Chloe grinned. "Better question… Did it work?" At her cousin's glare, she laughed. "Mrs. Kent just wanted you guys to stop avoiding each other for once."

"We don't avoid each other."

"What do you call escaping to Smallville every weekend? I didn't move out of the apartment so the two of you could be satellites."

"We don't avoid each other!" Lois insisted. "We go to Smallville on the weekends so CJ can spend time with his grandparents…"

"… And so you and Clark don't have to be alone."

Lois opened her mouth to refute but hesitated.

Chloe tilted her head, waiting for an answer.

"We avoid each other," Lois finally admitted. "It's…"

"…Complicated," Chloe finished for her. "And that's an excuse."

"It's just… we've got to be on the lookout for this whole 'save the world' thing and there's CJ to think about." Lois shrugged. "You don't just go 1-2-3 instant family and expect everything to be automatically copasetic."

Chloe nodded thoughtfully. "I _almost_ buy that, but this is you and Clark we are talking about. You're good together. You _could_ be great together if you would give it a chance. Are you really telling me that nothing happened with the champagne?"

Lois blushed. "We talked about it at least."

Chloe frowned. "You _talked_?"

"Don't laugh."

"Don't laugh at what?"

"Clark has this theory that super-powered sex causes memory loss."

Chloe burst into laughter. "Seriously?" At Lois's expression she fought to control her snickers. "Ok, but didn't the second bout of super-powered…" She coughed and put a hand over her mouth. "Didn't the second tumble in the field cause your memory to come back?"

Lois glanced around to see if her cousin's apparent hysterics were drawing any attention. "_Part_ of my memory came back," she corrected.

"Part of it," Chloe agreed. "Then you probably just need a few more pokes to get the full power…"

"Oh my God. See, this is why I didn't want to talk about this with you."

Chloe wiped the tears from her eyes. "Sorry! I'm sorry. It was just too easy. Ok." She took a breath. "Let's talk about this rationally."

"No. Let's talk about that favor before I disown you."

"We'll drop it for now, but this topic is far from closed."

"The favor, Chloe."

"I was wondering if I could borrow your keycard to the computer lab. There's some research I'd like to do."

"Research?" Lois jumped on the opportunity to turn the spotlight off of herself. "The multi-billion dollar computer system at LuthorCorp is on the fritz?"

"No. I'm just not so sure that this is a search I should do at the office. Things around there that are marked confidential tend to be the ones that are logged and monitored the most. Besides, I think it would be a little risky to research LuthorCorp while _at_ LuthorCorp."

Lois's brows rose in surprise. "How is this different from what you and Lex have been researching all this time?"

Chloe bit her lip and shrugged. "The fact that Lex doesn't know about it, I guess?"

Lois's mouth dropped in surprise. "Chlo…"

"Secrets, secrets, I know. It's just after everything with Clark… and you… I'm being really cautious, you know?"

Lois sighed. She really hadn't thought about the position Chloe was in. She was constantly forced to make decisions about what to share with Lex and what to keep to herself. It had to be akin to splitting herself in two. For one thing, Lois and Clark had not yet decided to go public with the news that CJ was indeed Clark's son. It was yet another thing Chloe had to keep on the down low.

"Well, you have to make the call. I'm sure whatever you decide is the best way to go."

Chloe smiled. Having her cousin's trust was more important than all the secrets in the world. "Thanks, Lo."

"Don't thank me yet. I'm about to send you into a computer lab filled with over-eager interns. Whatever you do, don't offer them advice on a new angle… Madness will ensue."

Chloe smirked. "We were those over-eager interns not too long ago," she reminded her.

"Ha!" Lois scoffed. "My life began the day I was made Junior Reporter, thank you very much. I was born at a news desk. What is this uber-secret research project about anyway?"

Chloe's mirth sobered. "After that Panic Room incident at the mansion, I started digging into more of those hidden level projects."

"The ones that the 'crazy hands' guy was talking about?" Lois frowned. Anything to do with the shooter with the alias Johnny Ringo made her blood turn cold. "Did anything turn up?"

"I think LuthorCorp has been attempting to create super-powered soldiers. If I'm not mistaken, they may be close to succeeding, and if so… let's just say Clark's gang of ecological avengers may have a new mission."

Lois's mind began churning this new information. Was this the threat Jor-El was trying to warn them about? It was obvious that whatever was coming was a fight that only Clark would be able to win. Match superpowers with superpowers.

She shuddered involuntarily. The last match up had left Clark bleeding to death. Granted, he hadn't had his powers at the time but it was still a disconcerting thought. "Do you have anything concrete?"

Chloe shook her head. "No, but I don't think that the work stopped when Lionel lost power. Someone is keeping it going and I need to find out who… and how to stop it."

Lois reached across the table and took her cousin's hand. "Promise me you'll be careful."

Chloe shot her a wide grin. "I always am."

"Good." Lois drained the rest of her coffee and rose to her feet. "For the record, your theory on the whole practice makes perfect on the memory retrieval front…?"

Chloe nodded as she stood.

"I proposed it first."

"You what? Lois!" Chloe's eyes widened as Lois turned and walked toward the elevator bay. "Lois! You can't just say something like that and walk away!"

Chloe grabbed her bag and jogged after her cousin, darting onto the waiting lift as Lois pressed a button for a floor. Lois leaned against the rear wall and crossed her arms with a satisfied smirk.

Chloe lifted a hand in exasperation. "Well?"

Lois arched an eyebrow in her direction, but didn't respond.

"Okay. Let's rewind. You just said that you proposed 'it' first - the 'it' being a suggestion that the two of you go for round two… or three actually, seeing as the first was the _first_…" Chloe shook her head distractedly and got back on track. "And I said, 'You what?' …That was your cue to come in with the details."

Lois shrugged. "That's all there is! I said we should give it a try, and he paled, stuttered and chugged champagne."

Chloe's mouth dropped. "I don't understand. Just a minute ago, you were giving me the 'way off limits' eyeball for even _thinking_ about it and you had already offered the farm?!"

"Offered the farm?"

"You know what I mean! I ran out of pop-culture references - sue me. Now spill!"

Lois smirked. "I have a son with the man. I _live_ with him. I know that I love him and the last time was really good." She paused and caught her tongue between her teeth. "_Really_ good… and… I have an itch."

"An itch?!" Chloe repeated in amusement as the elevator doors opened.

Two men and a woman entered the elevator. It was obvious from their no-nonsense pinstripes and glossy folders that they were on their way to see the 'suits' upstairs.

Chloe flashed a smile in their direction and sidled up next to Lois under the guise of making room. "What are you going to do?"

Lois's eyebrows hit her hairline. "There's nothing to do!" she whispered through her teeth. If the look she had given her cousin earlier was a 'way off limits eyeball' then the one she was giving now, said 'not now'. Lois cut her eyes to the elevator's other occupants who thankfully seemed to be caught up in their own conversation.

Their arrival at the newsroom floor was announced with a ding and Lois darted out of the elevator with Chloe on her heels. "You have an itch," the blonde insisted.

"And the 'man of steel will' has decided that we're not ready for that step." She rounded on her cousin as a new thought hit her. "Have you and Lex… you know?"

"No!" At Lois's startled look at the vehemence of Chloe's response, she softened it. "I mean, no. We…" She pointed to herself. "… compared to you and…" She pointed to Lois. "No. We live together… and there are definite… feelings, but not… um, yet."

Lois chuckled, and continued making her way to her desk. "Not so easy to be in the hot seat, is it?"

Chloe stuck out her jaw and recovered. "One: _so_ not the same. And two: if there is anything that can melt steel..." She gave Lois a knowing look. After all, she had been an observer to the entire love story in the making. "You once told me that you were scared that there was nothing more to you and Clark but a baby. Do you still feel that way?"

A small smile played on Lois's lips as she unlocked a drawer and pulled her keycard out. "Of course not."

"Then I think you've got everything you need to start a fire." With that, Chloe plucked the keycard from Lois's hand and sauntered away.

Lois stared in the general direction of her cousin's departure thoughtfully until a voice barked her back into reality. "Lane! I'm paying you to be a reporter not a coat rack!"

Lois blinked and dropped into her chair, grabbing a steno pad during her descent and waving it above her head. "I'm on it, Chief!"

* * *

Clark walked up the steps to the front door and let himself into the apartment. "Hey guys, I'm home," he called as he pushed the door shut behind him. "Lois, I got your message…"

His announcement faltered and a wide smile spread across his face as he took in the scene before him. Lois was in the middle of the living room with CJ in her arms, swaying and singing along with the music that was coming from the radio. The toddler was doing his own version of the song while rocking his head from side to side. It was both adorable and amusing at the same time.

Noticing that Clark had come in, CJ turned and stretched an arm to his father. "Atda! Udeleft, dan-me!"

Clark laughed at the boy's exuberance. "What?"

"This is his favorite song," Lois interpreted. "He wants you to dance with him."

CJ rocked his head again. "Dance, Atda."

"Nooo, no, no," Clark shook his head. "I don't dance… you know that." He made a face. "This is his favorite song?"

"Don't ask. It's Chloe's fault."

CJ made clutching motion with his hand. "Peese?"

Lois smiled. "Peese, Atda?"

With a sigh, Clark dropped his head and walked to them, mollified only by the fact that it was a slow song. When Lois handed CJ over and began to step away, Clark latched onto her arm. "Oh, no you don't."

Lois giggled and allowed herself to be pulled back into the ensemble. A few seconds later, CJ's 'Ting-me' request had her singing again.

Clark looked down at the two people circled in his arms and was momentarily lost. Never before had he felt so complete and so comfortable in his own skin. Right here, with his son and his… his Lois.

This moment, this feeling – this was all he wanted. This is what he wanted to have forever.

The past weekend in Smallville had been the first time they had allowed themselves a chance to really talk about what was holding them back. Clark had confessed his fears about hurting her, and Lois had confessed her fears that their feelings were based on the situation and therefore not rooted deeply enough to last. Ultimately, they had come to the conclusion that answers wouldn't come while they ran away from the hard questions.

They would spend the next weekend at home. It was a start.

Still swaying to the music, Clark gazed down at his family in the making once more. This was everything he dreamed of and he was convinced that it was his future; yet in his nightmares there was something sinister that was standing in the way - and the identity of the enemy was unknown.

"You okay?"

Clark blinked and realized that they were no longer dancing. Somewhere in his introspection, the song had ended and CJ was struggling to get to the floor. Clark gave himself a mental slap and put the little boy down.

"Yeah, I was just thinking… I got your message about the doctor's appointment just as I was about to walk into the clinic," he said, resuming the conversation he had begun when he had arrived home. "What happened?"

Lois hesitated for a second, giving him a surveying glance before turning away to gather stray toys from the living room floor. "There was some computer glitch or something. I called to let the pediatrician know we were running a little late but the receptionist told me that Connor's appointment wasn't listed."

Clark frowned. "But they called you on Friday to confirm."

"I know! That's what I told them, but they went on to say that he wasn't listed in the computer as a past patient – which is absurd because he's gone there for every check-up since he was born. Betty Receptionist, who tells me about her blind cocker spaniel _every time_ we go in, had the nerve to say she didn't remember us at all and that we'd have to sign up as new patients. New patients?! Are you kidding me? I'm just glad this wasn't a life or death situation."

"Well, if this were a life or death situation we probably would be going to the ER instead of the pediatrician's office…" Clark stopped as he noticed the look on her face. "But that's not the point," he amended with a chuckle. "So… did you reschedule?"

"No! I refuse to go through all that paperwork again for no reason. Dr. Hagan wasn't in the office so I had her paged. I'm waiting for her to call the office and verify that Connor Jerome Lane _is_ a patient of her private practice." Lois shook her head and dumped an armful of toys into a colorful wooden box behind the futon. "I wasted a half day of vacation for this."

"Mine!" CJ called, darting toward the box in a fast crawl.

The toddler's attention had been drawn to the toy box when Lois had put the stack of blocks and stuffed animals away. Her clean up routine had interrupted his delicate balance of toy distribution around the room.

Clark bent over and picked up the stuffed dinosaur CJ had abandoned. "I'm sure they'll get the computers fixed and have CJ's appointment rescheduled in no time."

When he returned to an upright position, Lois was glaring at him with her hands braced on her hips. "Do you always have to be so optimistic when I'm in vent mode?"

"Only when you're uptight."

"Oh, you're calling me uptight, are you?" Lois challenged with a dangerous look.

The sound of the phone ringing answered before he could. "I bet that's them now," he said with a satisfied grin.

Lois smirked and went back into the kitchen to retrieve the portable handset. "Hello? Yes, this is Lois Lane…" she answered as she returned to the living room. "I'm sorry?... Who is this?"

Clark turned at the change of tone in her voice.

"Wait… How do you…? No, of course that's… Yes, that's fine. Tomorrow at 1:00. Done. Who do I…? Hello?"

"Was that the doctor's office?" Clark inquired as she pulled the phone away from her ear.

Lois's brow was creased. "No - it was a new source. I have a meeting tomorrow at 1."

"Not by yourself," Clark quickly inserted. "_We_ have a meeting tomorrow at 1."

"Yeah, right. Whatever," Lois replied distractedly.

"No, not whatever, Lois! Perry made us partners. That means we share information." Clark ran a hand through his hair. "Listen, maybe you weren't all for this partner thing, and I know you keep reminding me that you have more experience by a few months, but…"

Lois blinked and looked up at him. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

Clark frowned. "The source. You acted like you didn't want to share…"

"Smallville, you're my partner. Of course I'll share. I just assumed that you would be there." She arched an eyebrow. "Who's uptight now?"

Lois laughed as she blocked the assault of the plush dino that Clark launched at her. Picking it up off the floor, she whipped it back at him with a fierce sidearm throw.

"Noo!" CJ squealed as the chase entered the living room. "My Ee-Rex!"

As the little family continued their game, it slipped from Lois's mind that she had been wondering exactly how the source had gotten her home phone number.

* * *

**

* * *

**_-- **Est. Time Remaining: 02:34:29** --_

Fitz was so focused on the image of the growing wave on his monitor that the sound of the door sliding open behind him shocked him out of his chair. Scrambling, he picked himself off of the floor and turned to face his visitor.

"Hello, Enning."

The hairs on the back of Fitz's neck rose to attention at the greeting from the formidable Professor. He opened his mouth to speak but the dryness there prevented him from replying. His eyes flicked to the monitor and back.

The Professor smiled. "No need to try and hide what you're up to, Fitzpatrick. I'm not here to put a stop to your actions. I merely want to watch," he commented, crossing the room and taking the seat next to the one Fitz had been using earlier. "Sit down," he commanded, softly. "I insist."

Fitz swallowed and sat down in the chair.

Kairo tapped his chin thoughtfully as he scanned the output on the computer monitor. "Won't be long now. Won't be long at all."

"I was..." Fitz's voice came out as a squeak and he cleared his throat. "I was just monitoring the countdown and…"

Kairo turned his considering look upon the young scientist. "You shouldn't lie. You don't do it well." He turned back to the screen. "Where do you fall on the nature versus nurture debate, Fitzpatrick?"

Fitz's mind scrambled as he tried to make sense of what was happening. The plan had been for Xavir to return with the baby and then… well, he wasn't sure what else was in the plan, but he was sure that it didn't entail handing the kid over to the man they were _supposed_ to be hiding from. Looking at the monitor again, Fitz realized that he was completely helpless. There was no way to warn Xavir. "Um… Nature versus nurture, Sir? I guess I'm not really sure."

Kairo laughed. "You may know that I was raised by my grandfather, the great Lex Luthor. In my case, there was no need to debate neither nature nor nurture because I was born to be sitting in this very seat at this very moment. Do you understand?"

Fitz didn't think he did but he was too afraid to respond.

"There is a fatal flaw in this bloodline, Fitzpatrick."

Fitz snuck a worried glance in the Professor's direction. In those old comics that he and Xavir used to debate, the villains always seemed to need the time to monologue when they were close to seeing their evil intentions fulfilled. If this were a comic book plotline, then that would be the cue for the superhero savior to break down the door.

But this wasn't a comic book tale, and no one was coming through the door.

"My grandfather was almost undone because of his love for a woman. Unfortunately, my mother wasn't able to overcome the untimely death of my father, and in turn, I almost threw away my heritage for that fickle emotion." He turned in his chair and looked at the red-haired scientist. "But true to my _heritage_ I made the decision that aligned me with my grandfather."

"Sir… why are you telling me all of this?" Fitz asked, unable to bear his own silence any longer.

The eerie smile made an appearance on Kairo's face once more. "The world is about to change, young man. When the time comes, you need to be able to make an educated decision about what side you will be on when the blade falls."

"Xavir's side," Fitz replied shakily. "I'll be on Xavir's side."

"Loyalty. I admire that. My great-grandfather, Lionel, foresaw this day coming decades ago but his warnings were brushed away as the wild rantings of a crazy man. Funny thing, insanity – it is often said that there is a thin line separating it from genius. In reality, there is no line at all. Pre-cogs have so much clarity that once they see the fullness of the life to come, they can't be expected to see the muted colors of the present - thus they are labeled as being crazy."

Fitz was losing ground in this conversation by the second. Was Kairo claiming that Lionel Luthor could tell the future or that he was insane?

Kairo reached into the projection of the computer monitor and placed his hand beneath the 3D graph of the wave. It was a symbolic image that showed he held the culmination of past, present and future in the palm of his hand. "Lex Luthor was the most powerful man in the world, but not because he was president. He learned that there was more power in being the man behind the president than being the man in office himself. Power comes from pulling strings unknown."

His eyes bore into Fitz's. "Ultimate power comes in darkness – not light, because it is in confusion that people are willing to surrender themselves to be led. If you want power, young man, you create confusion. Then you become the savior."

Kairo chuckled as a panicked look flashed across Fitz's face. "I don't want you to worry. Xavir will come back with the child and everything will work out fine."

"But you sent agents…"

"I did. But they are simply there to make sure Xavir's mission goes as planned, not to abort it. I sent a clean up crew." He reached out and patted the younger man's shoulder in an almost paternal way. "Nature versus nurture, Enning. Blood never lies."

Suddenly, Fitz realized that the Professor was both more sinister and intelligent than he had credited him with being. He wondered how long he had known about Xavir's plans. Whether or not Lionel Luthor had foreseen the future and warned his progeny about this day, it felt as if Xavir was playing directly into his father's hands.

And there was no way to stop it.**

* * *

**

* * *

Lex stopped short as he saw an unfamiliar man dressed in a black jumpsuit inside his home office.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?"

The man smiled and nodded courteously. "Mr. Luthor."

Perplexed that the stranger was not answering his question, Lex reached into his pocket for his phone.

"Sir, please don't do that. I'm here to help you… But first, you have something that I need."

* * *

Clark awoke with a start as something landed on his face. He opened his eyes to see Lois standing in the doorway to his room with an irritated look on her face. "Lois?"

Turning his head, he saw that the projectile that had interrupted his slumber was a balled up pamper. Relieved that the diaper wasn't accompanied with a certain tell-tale smell, he sat up. The alarm clock on the dresser informed him that it was a quarter to three in the morning. "Is everything okay?"

Lois's eyes narrowed in a glare. "How is it that you have radio-sonic eardrums but you can't hear _your_ son screaming bloody murder in the next room?"

Clark's eyebrows rose in astonishment. "Is he hurt?"

"No, he's not hurt! He just had the brilliant idea to change his own diaper."

Clark was lost on why this was the cause of Lois's mood. "Okay."

"No, not 'okay.' Not anywhere _near_ 'okay.'"

Clark stopped himself just as he was about to say 'okay' again. Instead, he cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair, trying to shake the sleep from his mind.

"He pulled off his diaper _before_ he used it. You know how chicken and dumplings look before they go in, right? Now imagine it - post-digestion - all over a crib."

Caught somewhere between a grimace and a grin, Clark coughed. It earned him another glare.

"I just spent the past hour and a half bathing CJ, and cleaning poo off the walls."

"How did poo get on the walls?" he asked incredulously. "I mean… um… I think I read that taking the diaper off is a sign that he's ready to be potty trained…"

Clark suddenly swore he could feel heat coming from her eyes. "…and I'm not helping, am I? I'm sorry. Why didn't you wake me up? I would have helped."

Lois looked at him as if she thought he had purposely not woken up.

"I honestly slept through it," he said with a smile. "I guess I was actually tired for once. Do you need me to put CJ back to sleep for you?"

"No, the little imp was half asleep by the time I finished giving him his bath. I'm the one who had to be coffee fortified. Now, I can't sleep."

Which, Clark deduced, meant that he wouldn't sleep either.

"We can move his crib in here with me if it would help you sleep better," he offered.

"Hmmm. Maybe," she replied unconvincingly, her vent losing steam. Lois tilted her head and looked at him curiously. "Why were you so tired? I thought your powers were back to full strength." A feeling of worry began to thaw the rest of her earlier frustration.

"They are," Clark said around a yawn. "I think it was that after dinner session with the guys that probably got to me."

"Ah, the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen," Lois commented. "What was the mission today?"

Clark seemed hesitant to respond and Lois narrowed her eyes. He knew that if she smelled a challenge, he would never be able to keep it from her… or get her to go back to bed in the near future. "I was trying to fly."

Lois's interest piqued. "A plane?"

"No. Me - myself."

Lois crossed the room and sat next to him on the bed with her legs tucked under her. "And?!"

Clark read her excitement and sighed. This was why he had been tentative to tell her about it. He had hoped to have something surprising to share with her.

She read the response in his posture and reached out to pat his hand. "Maybe you're going about it wrong." At his furrowed brow, she smiled. Coffee'd up and alert, her mind was firing on all pistons. "You flew before - there's no reason why you can't do it again."

"Kal-El flew," he corrected.

Lois rolled her eyes. "Right, your alter ego flew. Whatever, _whomever_… You were there." She smacked him lightly on the forehead. "You keep letting this get in the way."

"We tried everything. It's not happening."

Lois crossed her arms against her chest and began chewing on her lower lip. It was what was known to everyone but her as her thinking pose. "You tried everything, huh?"

Clark nodded.

"And naturally, you were focusing every thought on the idea of flying, right?"

He nodded again.

"When you flew… when Kal-El flew," she corrected. "You had no control. You were like a passenger tagging along for the ride - Maybe you need to let go. To _not_ think about flying." She smiled. "Don't think of it as a spoon. Only that, there is no spoon."

The quote had its desired effect and he laughed. Closing his eyes, he replied, "Okay. There is no spoon." Opening one eye, he peered at her. "Did it work?"

Lois hit his forehead again. "I have an idea. Lay back."

When he had complied with her command, she licked her lips hesitantly. She had an idea, all right, and if she went through with it… _Could_ she go through with it? She took a deep breath and thought back to Chloe's advice earlier that day. Sometimes you just have to let go. Wasn't that the point she was trying to make to Clark?

Lois wiped her palms on her pajama pants. To her credit, her voice bore no trace of nervousness. "Now relax."

When he felt warm fingers snake under his tee-shirt, he was anything but. His hand was instantly on top of hers. "Lois."

"Shh." She looked down on him with dark eyes and his pulse quickened. With a wink she pulled her hand from his and continued lightly trailing the fingers of both hands over his chest and arms.

After a few paralyzing minutes, he was breathing deep from the strain of trying not to respond to her touch. He was relaxed, and yet he was not. It was a painful paradox for a man who normally felt no pain.

Lois bit back a gasp as she noticed a slight change in Clark's altitude. It wasn't much, probably a centimeter if anything… and it was likely that it was nothing but a side effect of coffee beans after midnight… but she could have sworn he was floating… or something.

She continued stoking the fire with her fingertips. "What are you thinking about?"

Clark opened his eyes and she knew that whatever it was that was on his mind at that moment - it sure wasn't flying.**

* * *

**

* * *

**TBC**

* * *


	21. TWENTY

  
**

* * *

TWENTY

* * *

**

* * *

Clark followed Lois out of the car considering it lucky that she hadn't made him walk. He knew that she had been tempted - sorely tempted - if her having locked him out of the car was any indication of her level of annoyance right now. 

He jogged around the car to walk beside her as she made her way to the spot the source had requested.

Lois stiffened as she felt him come closer. Without looking, she knew that he was lifting a hand to the small of her back. "Clark, I swear if you touch me I will find a way to break every bone in your body."

His hand froze in mid-ascent before dropping back to his side. "Lois, listen…"

She spun around to face him. "No. I'm done _listening_." Her nostrils flared.

He could tell that she was pissed. "I'm sor…"

"Shut up," she inserted. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!"

Clark sighed. It had been this way between them since the early hours of the morning when he had put an end to Lois's attempt to help him fly. He hadn't flown, but he had certainly been 'rising.' Regardless of his body's reaction, his mind had remained earth-bound. "Lois."

"We're not doing this," she said through her teeth. Then she scoffed. "_We're_ not doing anything, remember?"

His decision had been for her protection but it was starting to look as if he was the one that was going to need protection.

Lois attempted to refocus. She was irritated, frustrated and working on little sleep, but she still had a job to do. When they reached the meeting point, she looked around warily. They were in a portion of the Warehouse District that had been earmarked for new development. In the meantime, it was abandoned, rundown, and downright creepy. This was definitely not a part of town she would want to be alone in at night.

She rounded on Clark, who was following close behind her with a guilty expression on his face. She punched him hard on the shoulder and he winced out of empathy for the pain she must have felt in return.

"This is not the way this goes!" she exclaimed. "You don't get to pull out the 'protecting you' card for everything." Apparently, the refocus hadn't been as successful as she'd hoped.

He frowned. "You're putting words in my mouth."

"And you're making decisions for me."

"A decision that affected me too!"

She arched an eyebrow. "Really? Because it seemed to me that it didn't even matter to you."

He couldn't imagine how she could have gotten that idea. "Not matter?"

His life was about boundaries. There were no limits to what he could do with his powers so he had to forcibly limit what he allowed himself to do. Somewhere in his subconscious he had come to the conclusion that what he and Lois had - this semblance of family life - was enough. It had to be.

The truth was, he had felt his control slip with her - he had very nearly let it go completely, and it scared him. If he ever got to the point where he let it all go – his strength, his will…

He lifted a hand to her shoulder, but she slapped it away. "No," she said stepping away. "You can't do that - I can't do that. _We_ can't do that. The touching, the pretending… I'm not going to let you start something when you refuse to finish it."

She shook her head distractedly. "I like cake. I _want_ cake. Damnit, I _need_ cake, but I'm a cake and eat person." She turned to face him with a pleading look. "I want my cake and I want to eat it too. And _I_ made that decision."

He wasn't sure what she was referring to as cake. "I'm not sure what that means."

"It means that if there's going to be cake that I can't eat, then I don't even want to smell it baking! It means…" She pressed her lips together for a moment and looked away, as if in a silent argument with herself. "It means that I, Lois Lane, am in love with you, Clark Kent. And _that_ should be enough for you to trust."

Clark's mouth opened slightly at her confession. It was the first time she had said that to him… about him... "I…"

Whatever he had been about to say was lost with the appearance of a tall man in a long black trench coat. He stepped out from the doorway of the building they were standing in front of. "Miss Lane?"

She turned around in surprise. "Yes? You're the one that called?" His attire slid him into the category of corporate leaks, she thought excitedly. A whistleblower from one of Metropolis's top businesses could lead to a huge story.

The man bowed slightly. "I am. Thank you for coming."

Lois's eyes narrowed. He was acting a bit oddly for a source – not that she had many of them. The sources she had met with before always seemed anxious, afraid that the information they were turning over to her would change their lives. This guy was the picture of calm. It unnerved her.

"This is my partner," she said, gesturing to Clark as he moved to stand beside her. "Clark Kent. And you obviously know who I am… Lois Lane." The offering of their names was a form of trust extended to sources. She had shown her hand first.

The man showed them a ghostly imitation of a smile. "Of course."

She flashed a confused look in Clark's direction. The man was still calm and was not showing that he had anything to offer. Other sources wanted their meetings to go quickly.

Clark read her look easily. Something was definitely up with this guy. He cleared his throat and extended a hand. "It's nice to meet you, Mr…"

The man intercepted Clark's hand with a gloved one of his own. "Merrick," he answered.

"Well, Mr. Merrick," Lois said. "How can we help you?"

Merrick retrieved his hand and slid it back into his pocket. "I was wondering if you knew where the father of your child was," he said, looking back at Lois.

Lois's eyes grew wide. "What the hell…?" she mumbled, instantly suspicious. "What are you talking about?"

"I have a message to deliver and I was hoping you wouldn't mind helping." Merrick pulled a metal tube from his pocket and pressed a button on the side. A slight hiss and vapor accompanied the spring-loaded mechanism that brought the small item inside of it into view.

Clark felt the impact of the Kryptonite immediately and stumbled. As his equilibrium started to dissipate, he felt Lois move to support him.

Merrick looked from the exposed green rock in his hand to the ailing Clark with an assessing gaze. "That is most interesting," he stated. He then pulled the meteor rock from the casing and held it up to the light. "And most unexpected."

Lois watched with growing uneasiness as the would-be source tossed the rock onto the ground at Clark's feet and snapped the metal tube closed. Clark slumped again, and there was nothing she could do to keep him standing. She tried to slow his descent as they both sank to the ground.

"You were more help than I anticipated," Merrick said, backing away from them. He mumbled something that Lois couldn't hear before disappearing around the corner.

Shock and fear caused Lois to freeze for a moment but Clark's groan snapped her back to attention.

"Lois… we have to..." He coughed, before he could finish, in obvious pain.

"Clark! Hold on." She struggled to get from underneath him, but it was difficult to move his large frame in his helpless state. In some super bout of sudden strength, she awkwardly rolled him over and jumped to her feet. Grabbing the Kryptonite, she ran to a sewer grate down the block and dropped the offending rock into the murky beyond.

When she returned to kneel at Clark's side, he was trying to sit up. "I heard him," he said, looking at her worriedly.

Lois put a hand alongside his jaw in an unconscious move to see if he was all right. "What?"

"Merrick. He said that he couldn't wait to meet the progeny."

The color drained from Lois's face and she scrambled for the pocket in her jacket that held her cell phone. She hit the speed dial button for the Daily Planet's Front Desk. "Day Care," she demanded, silently berating the fact that she had never managed to program the center's number in her phone. "No, I can't hold!... Maria, this is Lois Lane. Listen, I need you to take Connor…"

Clark watched as her facial expressions waged in a battle between anger and horror.

"What?! I dropped him off this morning - Connor Lane. You signed him in yourself!" She released a frustrated yell. "Put the director on the phone… I don't care, put her on right now and then call the police… Now! Don't you…"

She snapped the phone shut in disgust and shoved it into her pocket. She helped as Clark struggled to his feet.

"What was that?" he asked, accepting her aid as she secured his arm over her shoulders.

She silently urged him toward the car. "Are you okay?"

Clark frowned. "I'm getting better," he answered.

"Not better," she insisted. "I need you to be okay."

Clark forced himself to stand on his own as they reached the car. The pain from the Kryptonite had faded when Lois had moved it. The nausea and weakness would pass soon, but he knew from experience that his powers would take longer to return. "I'm okay." He put his hands on Lois's shoulders and looked deeply in her eyes. "What happened?"

"Maria…" Lois swallowed, fighting against her own bout of nausea. "Maria said that I never came in this morning… and that there's no record of a Connor Lane."

* * *

Lois had barely turned off the ignition before she darted from the car. Clark followed as fast as he could manage, which was only a little behind Lois's pace. Still, they arrived at the front desk of the Day Care Center at the same time. The mousy brown-haired woman sitting at the desk looked up in alarm as they burst through the glass door. 

"May I help…"

"Where is he?" Lois demanded.

The woman's eyes grew wider. "I'm sorry?"

"Connor Lane. Where is he? What did you do with him?"

Awareness crept into the woman's expression. "You're the woman who just called. Like I told you before..."

"Damnit, Maria! I don't have time for this." Lois leaned over the reception desk and pressed the button that unlocked the door leading back to the part of the center where the children's rooms were.

"Wait! You can't go in there!" Maria exclaimed as Lois ran through the check point.

Clark reached out and placed a hand on the woman's arm as she readied to give chase. "Maria, I really need your help here. My little boy - my son – he's in danger."

He pulled a picture out of his wallet to show her. "Someone is trying to get to him; someone dangerous. Please, check your computer, check whatever you have to. Did someone unknown come in here? Did someone take him? Where is he?"

Maria gave him a baffled look, confused and intrigued with the urgency in his voice. She shot another glance in the direction Lois had gone. "Sir, I'm sorry. The only unknown people I've seen today are you and that woman."

At that moment Lois reappeared with Connor tucked securely in her arms. The toddler was clutching at her jacket, rendered quiet and anxious by his mother's antics.

"He's okay," she announced breathlessly, her gaze boring into Clark's. "He's okay."

Clark nodded and leaned heavily against the desk as a tall woman in a brown business suit came through the main entrance. "Lois? Is everything all right?"

Lois spun to face the center's director, still holding onto CJ as if both of their lives depended on it. "No, Denise. It's not. I called here five minutes ago to check on CJ and I was told that he didn't exist."

Denise looked to the receptionist. "Maria?"

The woman looked shell-shocked. "I..." She blinked and put a shaking hand to her head. "I've never seen either of them or that little boy before," she said haltingly, recognizing that she was the only one who seemed to be wrong. "I… When she called, I wasn't sure what to make of it. You were out... He's not in the computer, but he was back there..." Maria dropped into her seat. "I'm so sorry."

Denise looked back to Lois. "I'm really sorry about this, Lois. Give me a few minutes and I will try to get to the bottom of it." She took a step toward the mother and child. "I can take him back to his class if you want…"

CJ laid his head on Lois's shoulder and closed his eyes as the woman got closer. It was his way of hiding. His basic logic was that if he couldn't see other people, they couldn't see him.

Lois felt him snuggle closer and finally allowed herself to calm a bit. "No. It's okay. We're going to take him with us. We're… um, we were headed out, anyway."

Denise nodded stepped back with an apologetic look on her face. "Well, let me at least go get his stuff for you. I am really sorry for the scare - nothing like this has ever happened before." She shot Clark a tight smile before grazing the stunned Maria with a bewildered look. "I'll be right back."

As the director passed through the doorway, Maria looked up. "I really… I just…" She shook her head, rattled and guilty. "I'll go and see if I can help Denise."

When she was gone, Lois moved to stand beside Clark. He reached out and brushed a hand over CJ's head, gently ruffling his hair.

"This is wrong, Clark," Lois commented. She had begun to realize earlier that she needed to be calm so she could think. This was the second time in two days where CJ's existence had been called into question. She didn't believe in coincidences - especially not bad ones. "We need to get out of here."

"I know," Clark replied. He was trying to wrap his mind around everything that was happening. They had a few options; there had to be a way of finding out what was going on.

The investigative reporter in him urged him to ask questions, to check security tapes, do anything it took to get intel on the threat they were facing. The father in him – the one whose weakness had recently been brutally exploited – commanded him to secure his family first.

Denise returned with a small red and blue backpack, and handed it to Clark. "Here you go. Again, I am terribly sorry for the mix-up." She turned to face Lois. "If you want to call the authorities…"

"No," Lois replied, rubbing a soothing hand over the child's back. "It was just a mistake. We understand. Could you just call me if you find anything?"

"Absolutely," Denise promised. Her concern was palpable. "You have my word."

Lois nodded. "Thank you."

Clark held the door open as Lois carried CJ out of the center. Denise sighed when the door swung shut after them and rounded the receptionist desk to have look at the computer. She frowned as she failed to gain access to the Lane file. Like Maria had claimed, it was not in the computer at all.

The faint door chime sounded to announce that someone had opened the door. Denise looked up to see a man in a black coat enter.

"Hello," Denise greeted warily. The events of the day had made her a little jaded toward any additional weirdness. "May I help you?"

The man gave a faint smile and nodded. "You will." He lifted his hand to reveal a tubular device with buttons on the side. "Just look right over here."

* * *

Martha hummed as she carried the stack of linens into her son's bedroom. She placed them on the desk and turned to strip the comforter off of the bed. As she folded it over the desk chair, a sudden breeze caused the posters on the walls to flutter. She spun around and screamed upon seeing a man in a black jumpsuit appear out of nowhere. 

The young man coughed and sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed just as Jonathan, reacting to the sound of his wife's distress, entered the room.

"What the hell?" Jonathan demanded, placing himself between Martha and the newcomer.

The man looked up at them nervously. "Please… I'm sorry if I scared you. I need to speak to Kal-El." He watched as the two older people exchanged a startled glance. "It is about his son."

* * *

Lois glanced at the rear-view mirror and smiled. In the backseat of the car, snapped snugly in his car seat, Connor was enjoying a graham cracker. Any other day, the wet brown streaks covering his hands and face that were undoubtedly going to soon decorate her seats would have made her shudder. She tightened her grip on the steering wheel, trying to keep a hold of something solid so she could stay grounded. Clark had offered to drive, but she needed the distraction. 

"Who do you think they are?" she asked, turning her head briefly to look at him. "Government? Military?"

Clark released a slow breath. "I don't know. Maybe they are part of a group doing studies on the meteor showers or something. That guy didn't seem to expect me to have a reaction to the Kryptonite, but when I did… It's like it answered something for him, but I don't know what."

Lois focused on the road in front of the car and gnawed on her lower lip. "Merrick said that he had a message for my son's father. He didn't know it was you."

"But how would they know that Kryptonite would be a factor?"

Lois shook her head. It didn't make sense. "How would they even link CJ to any of that?" They had been extremely careful with all of his doctor visits once they had finally pieced his heritage together. They had made sure that no extra tests were ever taken, but even before they had started taking precautions, nothing had ever come back abnormal.

The most unsettling thing about the whole situation was the fact that they didn't have a clue as to what they were up against. They had originally been hesitant about going to Smallville. It was obvious that the people on the other side of this thing knew a lot more than they did. They knew how to find Lois at home. They knew that she'd come at the call of a new source. They knew that the meteor rocks would be a threat. It was not a far stretch to think that they also knew the first place Lois and Clark would go is Smallville.

Even so, it would be better to be amongst family while trying to figure this thing out than on their own.

"Call Chloe." Lois took another glance in the rear-view mirror. She just needed to know he was okay. "She's supposed to be in Smallville with Lex today. See if she can meet us at the farm."

Clark nodded and dialed the phone number. After it rang a few times, the line was picked up.

"This is Chloe Sullivan."

"Chloe, it's Clark…"

"Clark! Where are you guys? I'm on my way to your parents' house right now. We've all been trying to reach you for the past hour!"

"We're on our way to the farm ourselves. Something really crazy is going on. We'll fill you in later."

"What is this number? I almost didn't answer because I didn't recognize it."

"We ditched our cells and picked up a pre-paid phone at Sav-Mart on our way out of town."

"You ditched your cells?" Chloe's voice took on a worried pitch. "Clark, what's going on?"

"I don't know," he answered, turning his head to look over at Lois. "But whatever it is, it isn't not good." He ran a hand through his hair. "Did my parents say what was wrong?"

Lois looked at him with wide eyes at the mention of his parents. The concern that these nameless enemies were already moving in on the Kents had been discussed earlier.

"No," Chloe responded. "Your dad just said they needed to talk to you as soon as possible and asked me to come over."

"Did they sound like they were in trouble?"

"They sounded anxious but not 'in peril danger' anxious. There weren't any explosions in the background or anything."

Hearing her answer, Clark looked at Lois and shook his head. "They're okay," he mouthed.

Returning to his phone conversation, he said, "Chloe, we need to cut off the phone now but we should be at the house in about an hour."

* * *

Chloe was already in the driveway when Lois stopped the car next to the barn. "You are not going to believe this." 

Lois opened the door and got out. "That was going to be my line," she quipped, wrapping her arms around her cousin in a tight embrace. "This has been the craziest day of my life."

Chloe pulled away and gave her a sympathetic look. "In five minutes, it's going to get a little crazier." She looked across the car to where Clark was pulling a sleeping CJ from his car seat and frowned in concern. "You look a little pale, Clark. Are you okay?"

"Kryptonite run-in," he answered casually. His eyes slid to Lois. "But I'll be fine."

Chloe looked like she wanted to say something but caught the look Lois and Clark were sharing. "You guys should come inside."

Lois stopped short when she entered the house and saw a man around her age seated on the couch. He was dressed in a black jumpsuit that had a familiar insignia on the collar. She held up a hand to keep Clark from entering the house.

Clark was confused with her sudden movement. "Lois?"

Jonathan was standing next to the couch with his arms crossed over his chest, talking in hushed tones to the man. He looked up when he heard Clark's voice. "Lois, what's wrong?"

"Why is he here?" Lois asked, anger and fear crawling up and down her spine.

Martha walked over and placed a calming hand on Lois's shoulder. "Do you recognize him?"

Lois shook her head curtly, never taking her eyes off of him. "I recognize his clothes. His friend attacked us earlier."

"My friend?" the man asked, rising to his feet. "Then they've already made contact?"

"Contact," Lois snorted. "That's an understatement."

Jonathan turned a hard stare on the man. "You said you were here to help."

The young man's eyes went wide. "I am! Those are not my friends." He sighed. "My name is Xavir Christian… I plan to answer all of your questions but first you need to know that I'm here to make sure that those people don't get what they came for."

Clark stepped through the door and handed CJ to his mother. "And what is that?"

Xavir's eyes slid to the child in Martha's arms. "Connor."

* * *

Lois fixed Xavir with a hard glare. "I don't buy it." 

Xavir pulled his collar away from his neck nervously. "I know it's hard to believe…"

"Hard to _believe_?!" Lois's right eyebrow inched upward. "You say hard to believe about something unexpected that still has a remote chance of happening - like the Metropolis Generals taking the series. _That's_ hard to believe. What you're talking about isn't hard to believe – it's not even plausible."

Xavir sighed, his eyes flicking to the other occupants in the room for help. "I'm telling you the truth."

Clark frowned, reaching out and lacing his fingers with Lois's. "Tell it again."

Xavir pulled the metal sphere from his pocket and checked the chronometer. They had already gone through the story twice. "I don't…"

"Tell it again," Clark quietly insisted.

Xavir's eyes widened at the firm tone from the man he knew would one day be the infamous Superman. Sure, he had met him before, but the awe of being in the presence of a legend never faded. He glanced at the chronometer one more time and began his spiel again. "I'm a scientist from the year 2109. We recently succeeded in creating a time travel vortex window that remained stable for a full ten minutes and were looking to initialize our historical observation trial. Everything was going on schedule…"

"Until you jumped the gun and hang-glided into Lois's and Clark's flight plan," Chloe entered, pausing to look up from her laptop long enough to make her statement.

Xavir nodded meekly. He had already experienced a number of ego bashing lessons during this entire ordeal - there was no basis for him to get defensive this late in the game. "Yes. In my desire to make a name for myself, I used the system on my own before the project had been cleared for testing. I came to Smallville on what was supposed to be a short tour…"

"Why?" Martha asked. "Why Smallville? Why this family?" She was seated in the loveseat cradling CJ. Behind her, Jonathan placed a hand on her shoulder.

Xavir swallowed. He had to be careful of what information he shared. If any one person in this room did anything differently than it had initially played out, the repercussions could cause serious ripples in the timeline.

"There are… some very important contributions to the world I live in that were made by the people in this room. Your time period is one of the major eras that was to be studied. Time synching is entirely uncharted – it's the last frontier of discovery for mankind…" He trailed off and swallowed. His excitement for the scientific basis of time travel would not be welcome at this point.

Clearing his throat, he continued. "Everything was going well, but when I was getting ready to go back to the year 2109, Lois and Clark…" he said as his eyes strayed to the couple in question, "…got caught in my return window."

Lois's expression turned wry. "Which is when we went to the future for five days, right?"

"Yes. When my colleagues and I found you, we sent you back to the same day of your departure."

"Without our memories of the entire trip," Clark added.

"Unfortunately, it was the best option," Xavir replied apologetically.

"And here I thought that truth and honesty were always the best options," Lois countered.

Xavir swallowed again, suddenly wishing he had accepted the earlier offer for a drink of water. "I misspoke," he acquiesced. "I should have said that it was the _only_ option. Any knowledge that you have of the future greatly compromises the timeline. Right now it is folding on itself because your return to the correct time period had unforeseen consequences… You brought something back with you."

Xavir refrained from saying the line that had almost gotten him killed the first time he'd told the story. That time, he had mentioned that Connor 'didn't belong here' – meaning the time period, but it hadn't gone over in that sense. He dared a glance at Lois, knowing that her mind was on that unspoken comment as well.

Jonathan looked down at the peaceful face of his sleeping grandson and tried to convince himself that none of this could be true. If it were… there was nothing he could do to corral this situation. It was wildly spinning out of the realm of things he could control – and that knowledge caused his heart to break.

"There are people who will stop at nothing to take him," Xavir warned.

"People like you," Lois replied.

"No…" Xavir strained for the correct words to plead his case. "I'm trying to keep him safe."

"By taking him," Lois completed in a flat tone. Her eyes were trained on him like a hawk's.

"It won't be long before they come here," Xavir urged softly. Lois and Clark had recounted the tale of their earlier adventures; events that he was convinced were initiated by the Professor's agents. It was obvious to him that those men were working en force to capture the child without leaving any evidence. "If we don't keep a step ahead, I'm afraid… I don't think I can stop them."

Clark was frustrated. Even though he had heard all of this twice before, he knew there was much Xavir wasn't telling them. He understood the man's hesitation – he feared telling them anything that could affect the future – but it didn't make him feel any better.

Xavir had a pretty good idea of what Clark was thinking. "I have to be really careful about what I reveal."

"About who I am?" Clark asked.

"About who you will become." Xavir looked over at CJ in wonder, overcome with the fact that he was looking at a future hero as a child. "About who you both will become."

Clark silently pondered the words, experiencing an eerie feeling of destiny settling onto his shoulders like a cloak. "Where are you going to take him?"

An un-describable emotion crossed Lois's face at Clark's question and she turned to look at him with a tense jaw. "What?"

Clark didn't look up at Lois's query; his eyes focused on the child in his mother's arms. As unbelievable as it seemed, the account that Xavir was giving them was undoubtedly the truth. He had answered enough questions to prove he wasn't running a scam. While he had listened to Lois attempt to drill holes in Xavir's story for the third time, the reality of the whole situation had finally dawned on him. There was no choice to make. In the future this man had come from, the choice had already been made.

Clark finally looked up, avoiding Lois's eyes and instead meeting the gazes of the man that was going to do what he, with all of his strength and ability, could not do – save his son.

"He'll be safe?"

Lois pulled her hand out of Clark's grasp and hit him on the shoulder. "What?!" she repeated, her voice climbing an octave. "You're on his side?"

Chloe jumped to her feet and caught Lois's arm as she was about to hit Clark again. "Lois…" Chloe's eyes briefly met those of Clark's parents. They had all heard Xavir's story and they all knew how bleak the outcome looked. Even Lois.

Especially Lois.

In Martha's lap, CJ moaned and reached out in his sleep.

Lois's complexion paled suddenly as her last adrenaline-fueled protest died in her throat. "I need some air," she announced, clutching her chest with a hand. She brought the other hand to her head and stumbled a bit. "I've got to… I can't…" Her breathing became labored. She didn't want Connor to wake up and see her in this state.

Chloe put a hand on Lois's arm and gently pulled her toward the door. She paused long enough to grab a couple of the random coats that had been tossed on a chair near the exit.

Overwhelmed, Lois had allowed herself to be directed by her cousin, but at the door she suddenly turned. "Wait!"

Clark had been watching the two women's progress with a blank expression. Seeing Lois's reaction had left him feeling even more helpless and impotent. His moist eyes locked with her frantic ones.

"Don't let him..." She opened her mouth as if to say something else, and then closed it. She swallowed. "Don't let him out of your sight."

When Clark didn't answer, Lois's eyes flicked to her son and back to him as her breathing hitched again. "Clark?" she plead.

"I won't," he answered quickly, finally snapping to attention. "I promise."

"Come on, Lois," Chloe said softly, leading her cousin out of the house.

* * *

"How much time do we have?" Clark asked, forcing himself to sit up straight. 

Xavir slowly pulled his gaze away from the door Lois and Chloe had just walked through. He had not been prepared for how emotional this was going to be. Knowing that his pre-ordained duty was to deliver Superman's child to the Guardians had made it seem so straightforward; experiencing it proved otherwise.

"Um…" He looked down at the metal sphere with a creased brow, mentally converting the numbers. "18 hours… maybe less." He paused, taking in the pained expressions of the people he faced. "Definitely no more than that. Once we reach zero…"

He stopped, not needing to say anything in addition. He had already disclosed that the outcome of an imploding timeline would terminate the future he lived in. His mission was to keep the integrity of the timeline uncorrupted and running out of time was not an option.

"18 hours," Jonathan repeated in a gruff voice. Rubbing his chin, he swore under his breath.

Martha had been keeping her expressions stoic in an attempt to help strengthen Lois, but with her daughter's departure, the tears had found a way to her eyes. In the blurring vision that resulted, she could almost see her son's powerful aura crumble. He now stood off center, a few feet from both remaining clusters: the one made up of his parents and son, and the one made of the traveler. She could tell that his positioning said everything that he was feeling: he was alone.

"Clark, come over here," Martha beckoned.

Xavir watched as Clark knelt next to his mother and laid a weary head in the space of her lap that was not taken up by the sleeping little boy. Martha began stroking Clark's hair, reminding Xavir of a time when he was a child and his own mother was alive. In Xavir's young life, he had often felt out of place, but standing here in this room with the grieving Kent family was the first time he had ever felt intrusive.

Quietly, he made his way into the kitchen. He figured that the family wouldn't mind if he got that drink of water on his own.

The fact that Xavir had left the room barely registered with the remaining occupants. Jonathan moved to perch on the armrest of the chair Martha was sitting in. For a brief moment, they were all lost in their own private thoughts, brought together by proximity and touch.

"It's not fair," Clark muttered, lifting his head so he could peer at his son. "I had so much more to say… to do, to give. I mean we _just_ found out that he was mine." He frowned. "I should have… done more…" His brow creased. "…Done _something_."

Martha glanced up at her husband. Their child was in pain and there was nothing they could do to stop it. Situations like these were the hardest obstacles of parenthood.

Jonathan smiled grimly in return. "Son, you have been there for this little boy since the day you learned of his existence… and that was even before he had become fully formed in the womb. You were there for his birth. You were there for his first step, his first word… his first diaper change."

Clark smiled softly as his father's words conjured flashes of memories to his mind.

"Yes, you just learned that his DNA matches yours, just learned that his legacy is a literal stem of your own - but I have a question for you." He waited until Clark looked up at him before continuing. "Could you have loved him any more than you did the day you met him? Could you love him any more than you do right now?"

Clark was quiet for a moment, weighing the tone and the content of his father's words. It was a serious question. It was a serious answer. "No." His reply was so soft, he couldn't be sure that he had even spoken. "No," he said again.

The love he had for this child was more powerful than anything he had experienced before. It threatened to split him at the seams - and it had always been that way, even before he had been able to genetically claim CJ as his own.

Jonathan nodded. "Then you've done _everything_ that you were supposed to do."

Clark reached out and took one of CJ's small hands in his own. The contrasts were there in spades. Small, delicate fingers lay upon large, powerful ones. "I've done everything except ensure his future – his safety."

He met his mother's eyes. Immediately, tears sprang to his in response to the ones she was struggling to keep at bay. "But I will do that now… Even if it kills me."

* * *

"This is my fault," Lois announced, leaning heavily against the wooden porch railing for support. 

Chloe stood next to her, rubbing a hand soothingly on her back. She was relieved that Lois's breathing had settled. She had feared that they were on their way to a full-blown panic attack. "What are you talking about?"

Lois turned her head to face her cousin. "I did this. I summoned all the bad karma spirits and they had a fricking séance."

Chloe frowned.

Seeing her expression, Lois scoffed. "Don't you get it? I, in my infinite, Lois Lane wisdom, angered the fates with my crazy talk. I practically dared them to strike me down with lightning - because once was obviously not enough – and then went out and bought a lightening rod!"

Lois pushed herself from the railing and wrapped her arms around herself. "I said that I wished there was a way for Clark and I to find out if what we had was because of our baby," she confessed painfully. "And look what happened."

"Lois, you did not cause this to happen!" Chloe insisted, her eyes widening in horror.

"Then who, Chloe?" Lois asked with moist eyes. "Who can we blame? Who can I blame? How could I have stopped this?"

Chloe sighed. Dr. Spock's guide to child rearing didn't include a chapter on temporal mechanics. "I don't know."

Lois shifted her weight restlessly. "He's my baby, Chloe. I'm just supposed to send him away? Who does that?" A sudden memory of a quiet talk with Martha made her clutch her stomach. "Oh God. I'm not strong enough for this."

Chloe moved to wrap an arm around her waist, not knowing how to respond.

"I told Martha…" Lois paused to swallow; her throat was scratchy and dry. "I told Martha that I admired the strength Clark's mother had to be able to send him away to be saved…" She shook her head, dislodging a tear. "I'm going with him."

"You know you can't do that, Lo." Even with her tech savvy background, Chloe hadn't understood most of the techno-babble that Xavir had spouted, but they all had grasped the general concept.

Connor, having been conceived in a time when Lois and Clark were not supposed to exist, could not continue to live in the same time period as his parents. He had to go back… to the future.

"Right now, the _only_ thing I know is that I can't imagine my life without him," Lois replied.

"I can't imagine a world without him," Chloe agreed.

Lois suddenly straightened. "What did you just say?"

Chloe looked at her curiously. "I said that I couldn't imagine a world…"

"That's it."

"What?"

"World," Lois repeated thoughtfully. "Save the world." She closed her eyes and pressed her fingers against the lids. "Damn you, Jor-El."

"Jor-El?" A second later, Chloe's shoulders sagged as she realized what Lois was talking about. "This is it. This is what he meant when he said you would have to decide to save the world."

If there had been any hope for doubt to the credibility of Xavir's claims, it had just been shattered. Chloe turned to fully wrap her cousin in her arms. "I'm so sorry, Lois."

Lois leaned into Chloe's embrace, willing to let someone else hold her up for a moment. It wouldn't be too long before she would have to find strength within herself. "Me too," she mumbled into Chloe's shoulder. "Me too."

* * *

Lois chuckled as CJ jumped up and down on the bed next to her. On the other side of the child, Clark lay on his side, facing both of them. 

"I know he had that nap earlier but I would have thought he'd be sleepy by now," Clark commented. "He's wired."

Lois met his eyes. "I wouldn't have it any other way." If this was going to be their last night, she would spend it drinking in each last moment. She refused to sleep.

Clark nodded, sliding a hand over to hers so they could lace fingers. The feeling was mutual.

"At-da!" CJ squealed, suddenly pouncing onto Clark's chest. If anyone else in the house had been able to sleep, they certainly weren't now. "Fwink, peese."

"It's a lot of work to jump on the bed, isn't that right, Little Monkey?" Lois smiled and disengaged her hand from Clark's so she could roll over and get the sippie-cup from the bed table. "I got it."

CJ clapped and nodded as Lois handed him the cup. "Yay da Mommy!"

"Yay for Mommy," Clark repeated amusingly. He sobered immediately, looking over CJ's head to Lois's face. She was Mommy now, but what would she be after tomorrow? What would he be?

CJ patted his father's face and handed him the cup. He was relishing in having the undivided attention of both of his parents. Wobbling as he got to his feet, he braced himself with a hand on Clark's shoulder. With a wide grin, full of adorable mischief, he started bouncing again. When he had gained enough momentum, he launched himself in Lois's direction. "Powee!"

Lois yelped and caught him in mid-air, falling backwards from taking in the force of his energy. She let him slowly fall to her chest. "I love you so much."

CJ wiggled around until he was sitting on her stomach looking down at her. He put his hands close together, happy to be playing a familiar game. "Dis muct?"

Clark's eyes sparkled as he watched.

Lois shook her head and spread her arms out wide. "This much."

CJ narrowed his eyes as if he didn't understand and moved his hands as far apart as his shoulders. "Dis muct?"

"Nooo," Lois replied in mock annoyance. She spread her arms out wide again. "_This_ much."

"Oh!" CJ's eyes grew big. He held up one hand and put out his thumb and forefinger as if pinching the air. "Dis muct," he stated confidently.

Lois rolled over and began tickling him, enticing even more loud squeals. When he had finally squirmed free, he rolled over to Clark and sat up. "Mommy got me!"

Clark nodded. "I know. You want some more to drink?" He returned the cup to the bed table when the little boy shook his head and climbed into his lap.

Clark looked over to Lois. She was still lying on her stomach from when she had been wrestling with CJ, but her head was facing away from them. Clark reached out and stroked her hair lightly. He didn't ask if she was okay. He already knew.

Lois sniffed and turned her head to face her two guys, placing a too-bright smile on her face to match her too-bright eyes. She noticed CJ snuggling deeper into Clark's arms and read the tale-tell signs. "I think we're losing him, Doctor," she quipped, trying to keep the mood light. When the veracity of her words hit her she let out a slow sigh.

Clark saw the emotions shift on her face and then looked down at his tiring son. This was it. Part of him wanted to do something to keep the little boy awake. He slid CJ out of his arms and onto the bed next to Lois. CJ instinctively snuggled closer to her.

Lois wordlessly reached out and pulled Clark down by his shirt. The two of them lay close together with their child tucked between them.

Clark finally voiced the thought that had been lurking in the back of his mind for hours. "Will we survive this?" he asked softly, reaching up to place a hand over the one Lois still had on his chest.

Lois knew what he was asking. It was the same question she had been debating for over a year. It was the question that she feared the answer to. Could this relationship that they had – one birthed in the midst of circumstances beyond their wildest dreams – could it survive when those circumstances changed?

She met his eyes but didn't answer. She honestly didn't know. It was a question they could pose to Xavir – seeing as he knew their future and all – but were they really prepared for the answer if Xavir was willing to give it?

Clark leaned down to kiss CJ's head. His hair was getting so long that it was starting to curl. "There is so much I wanted to teach you. So much I wanted to say…" His brow creased briefly. "You will travel far, Connor Jerome Lane. You will be away from us in body, but not in mind… not in soul." His voice cracked.

Lois closed her eyes at his words. "You need to name him," she said.

Clark looked up at her quizzically. "What do you mean?"

"Connor Jerome Lane," she said, smiling when the little boy looked up at her when she said his name. "I gave him that as his mother. Now it's your turn."

They shared a long look. He had been dreaming of the day he would get to add Kent to CJ's birth certificate. What Lois was offering was more than he have ever thought possible.

Earlier that day, his parents had helped him realize that he couldn't love his son any more than he already did. That love was unconditional and immediate, consuming him from the inside out all at once. Nothing, even distance, could change that. What amazed him in that instant, though, was the love he felt for the woman across from him. That love changed and grew deeper every day.

Abruptly, he leaned over CJ and kissed her fiercely, feeling her smile with his lips. They would save the world because they had to. They would face tomorrow bravely because they had to. They would survive this – together – because they _had_ to.

"Kisses!" CJ giggled, putting a small hand on Clark's face. His little face scrunched as he tried to dodge the kisses his parents turned on him at the interruption.

Clark pushed the boy's hair back from his forehead. "My son," he stated proudly. "You will be everything that you are meant to be and more. Within you, you hold my strength, my power… my life. You are everything I ever hoped to be." He glanced at Lois and continued at her supportive nod. "You are my son: Kon-El, of the House of El."

CJ titled his head thoughtfully at his father's words. After looking at him for a moment, he broke out in a wide grin and squeezed Clark's nose. "Honk." Giggling, he laid his head on his mother's chest, closed his eyes and began humming himself to sleep.

Lois patted Clark's chest. "That was great," she said, trying her best to forget that it was a goodbye speech.

CJ cracked open his eyes at the sound of Lois's voice. "Ting-a-me, Mommy. Udeleft."

Rolling her eyes at his song choice, Lois interlaced her fingers with Clark's and began to sing.

* * *

**

* * *

TBC**

* * *


	22. TWENTYONE

* * *

**TWENTY-ONE

* * *

**

* * *

"Lois, Honey, wake up." 

Lois heard Martha's voice call her from the edges of semi-consciousness and forced her eyes to open.

"Hey, Sweetie," Martha greeted. "I have no doubt that you are emotionally and physically drained right now, but I know you wouldn't want to sleep late today."

Lois blinked and looked around. She was still wearing her clothes from the day before and lying on top of the covers on Clark's bed. Her heart pounded as panic set in. "I fell asleep?" She had planned on staying up the entire night.

Martha's expression was sympathetic. "We tried to wake you numerous times but I guess the body knows what it needs when it needs it."

Lois shot to an upright position, blindly searching the room for the alarm clock. "What time is it?"

"A little after 9 o'clock," the older woman answered softly, lowering to sit beside her on the bed.

Lois sucked in a short breath. "5 hours," she interpreted, running a hand over her hair. She looked into Martha's eyes and saw a pain that matched her own. "How do I do this?"

Martha shook her head in response and Lois's eyes fluttered close. Her eye lids were heavy and grainy from the tears she had fallen asleep shedding. Right now, the only possible salve for their grittiness was from the building tears that were threatening to take their place. Last night, Lois hadn't thought her heart was capable of breaking any further.

She was now learning the heart had an unlimited storage capacity for pain.

"Clark and CJ went out for a walk," Martha informed her. "They left not too long ago. CJ was up early – we had breakfast around six…" She trailed off and it was apparent that she was trying to fill the silence with chatter.

Silence left time to brood about what was going to happen in a few short hours.

"I could make you some breakfast if you'd like."

Lois nodded. She didn't have much of an appetite, but she was aware that Martha needed to contribute in some way. "Maybe something light," she added. "I think I'll go and find the boys." She lifted her chin with a grim smile, forcibly keeping the tears at bay as her unofficially adoptive mother rubbed a hand up and down her arm.

"Of course." Martha pushed herself off of the bed.

"Mom." Lois grabbed for her hand as she rose. "I love you."

If there was anything good that Lois could take from this ordeal, it was the lesson that you had to share your deepest feelings with people whenever you could… because there would soon be a time when you couldn't. Lois didn't speak those words easily. Sappy sentiments hadn't been freely flowing during her childhood.

"I just wanted you to know…"

Martha smiled and lifted a hand to Lois's cheek. "Oh, my sweet girl," she responded thickly, her brow creasing as she struggled to contain her own emotion. "I love you too."

* * *

"Hi, Mommy!" 

Lois grinned and returned the wave of the excited child. She had quietly come out into the fields and set down a blanket while Clark and CJ were roaming the land. After having watched them interact for a few minutes unnoticed, CJ had finally seen her. She raised her eyes and shifted to wave at Clark. He was laughing at CJ's unstable dash in Lois's direction and following behind at a much safer pace.

After an amazingly few falls, CJ made it to Lois's blanket and wrapped his arms around Lois's neck. "Hi, Mommy!"

"Hi, Baby," she answered.

Clark made it to the blanket and sat down. "I'm glad you're awake. I was getting a little worried."

Lois's eyebrows knitted together briefly. "I didn't know I'd fallen asleep. I must have really been out."

"You were tired," he offered.

Lois shook her head and squeezed her son tighter. Tired was no excuse. She couldn't afford to miss a mere second – not when seconds were all she had left. "What if we say no?"

To his credit, Clark seemed to know what she was talking about even though the segue was unannounced. "I keep remembering that he belongs to the world as much as he belongs to us," he replied, gazing down at his hands.

"Maybe we should let the world take care of itself," Lois retorted. She took a calming breath. "It sucks to be the ones trying to save it."

Clark nodded in agreement. Suddenly, he looked up at her, a wondrous look on his face. "I dreamt this."

Lois released CJ when he pulled away from her, his attention taken by a dot-less orange ladybug on the blanket. "Like deja-vu?" she asked.

"No, it was a dream. I remember… We were on a picnic together..." His gaze settled on CJ. "With a baby."

Lois frowned. She had learned not to discredit dreams when CJ and Clark were involved, but she didn't know what to make of this one. "Was it a nightmare? Did something bad happen?" Maybe it was a warning, she thought, warily checking out the fields around them.

Clark shook his head. "I don't think so. All I remember is the three of us being together."

Lois sighed, somewhat pacified by his answer. "Chloe said that she and Xavir would head to the caves in a little while… to give us and your parents some time to…" She swallowed and found she couldn't say the words to finish. The pain in her chest had returned with a vengeance.

"Biddybug," CJ announced with a serious expression. His eyes crossed a little as he looked at the bug on his forefinger. "See it?" As he moved to bring his finger closer to Lois's face, the insect spread its wings and flew away.

"Oh!" the little boy exclaimed. "He fwy!" He turned to his mother with his mouth open in an astonished 'o'. Lois chuckled at his over the top excitement. Her child lived on extreme emotions – and she couldn't deny knowing where he got the trait from.

"He sure did," Clark quipped. "Should we show Mommy who else can fly?"

CJ turned to look at him with a puckered brow. "Not At-da," he decided, gravely.

Lois grinned. Her little boy was quite a character.

"No, not me." Clark shot her a wry glance.

"Hey, I didn't tell him to say that!" she exclaimed. "Who can fly, CJ?"

CJ's cheeks dimpled as he grinned widely. "Meee!" he squealed, jumping into Clark arms.

Clark laughed and jumped to his feet, lifting the child high above his head and turning in a circle.

"I fwwying, Mommy!" he called to her, his little fists stretched out in front of him.

Lois tried to respond, but her words were lost as the chuckle in her throat dissolved into a sob. Rocking herself as the tears came unbidden, she finally succumbed to the tension, the emotion… the pain.

"I'm sorry," she said ten minutes later when her sobs subsided.

Clark had put Connor down on the blanket so he could comfort her. The little boy was watching her with anxious eyes; not having moved from the spot Clark had set him in.

Lois looked at him and wiped her eyes. The wracking sobs had stopped but the tears were still freely flowing. It was as if she had sprung a leak and couldn't plug it. "I'm sorry, Baby. Mommy's okay," she said softly, reaching for him.

CJ hesitated before crawling over to sit on his mother's lap.

Lois was grateful Clark had been able to keep his own composure even though she knew he was feeling the same way she was. She feared what damage would have been done to her child's psyche if both she and Clark allowed themselves to break down at the same time. She smiled and kissed CJ's cheek. "See, Mommy's okay."

CJ gingerly touched her face with a perplexed expression. It looked as if he was near tears himself. "Her cwy," he observed, looking over Lois's shoulder to Clark.

Lois felt Clark's nod. He was straddling her from behind with his long legs bracketing her on each side. Releasing a breath, she leaned back into his chest. This was the position they had been in on the day CJ had come into their world, and ironically, it was the same position they were in on the day he would leave it.

She wiped her face again. "It's okay, Peanut. I'm done crying."

CJ looked at her doubtfully but nodded. Repositioning himself, he settled into her arms and turned his attention to the cows grazing in the far pasture beyond the fence.

"I kept thinking that we would find a way out of this," Lois confessed softly. It had finally hit her like a falling anvil when she saw her baby boy soaring in the sky. She wasn't going to see him grow up. She would never see him fly.

Time continued to tick by. The old saying said that it stopped for no man… it certainly wasn't stopping for them.

"We should go back," Clark offered.

Time also was not on their side, Lois thought grimly.

They made their way back to the house slowly. CJ walked between them, holding their hands and occasionally jumping into the air so they could swing him. In a small way, Lois found her son's resilience to be heartbreaking. He was so young that she feared he would forget them.

She surfaced from her thoughts as they rounded the barn. "I guess Chloe and Xavir are already gone," she commented, noticing that Chloe's car was no longer parked next to hers.

"I guess so," Clark agreed, swooping CJ into his arms when they got to the porch.

Lois followed as he climbed the steps, not being able to help feeling like they were climbing the steps to the gallows. When they opened the side door that led to the kitchen, they found Martha inside humming to herself softly as she finished washing the morning's dishes.

"Hey, Mom. We're back," Clark announced.

Martha turned to face them with a smile. "Oh, Clark… Lois! Hi, Honey! I thought that was your car outside. You should have called to let us know you were going to be in town."

A chill crawled up Lois's spine at the words.

She watched as Martha dried her hands on a towel and walked over to Clark. "Who is this handsome young man?" she asked, grinning when the baby reached for her. "He sure is a friendly little guy, isn't he? Hi, there!"

Lois felt herself sway and placed a hand on the door frame to steady her balance. "Mo… Martha," she croaked. "You don't recognize him?"

Martha pulled her attention from the little boy, leaving him in Clark's arms and frowned at Lois. "Should I?" She looked back at the boy as if trying to place him. "He almost looks like you did when you were little, Clark," she teased.

Lois and Clark exchanged a panicked look. Clark looked as shocked as she felt. "Dad!" he called out in alarm.

Jonathan's voice greeted them from the top of the stairs. "Hey, Son, I was wondering where you had gone off to this morning…"

For the first time since entering the house, Lois looked around the kitchen. CJ's highchair was missing. She dashed over to the cabinet where his food and bottles were kept.

Jonathan's tone rose in surprise as he entered the room. "Are you babysitting?"

"They're not here. Everything is gone." Lois spun around from the empty cabinet. Both Martha and Jonathan were looking at her with confused expressions. "They've already been here." She turned from the questioning stares to look at Clark. "What are we going to do?"

She saw Clark tilt his head and slowly turn around, his expression clouding as something outside caught his attention. He closed the door and clutched CJ closer to his chest, suddenly stepping backwards as if the door were on fire.

"What?" Lois asked. She turned to the window slowly, afraid of what she would see.

"They're coming back."

Two black SUV's with dark tinted windows were making their way down the drive.

Jonathan moved beside her to look out to window. "Who's coming back? Kids, what's going on here?"

Clark walked over and pulled Lois away from the window, moving deeper into the kitchen. "Dad, whatever you do, don't let them in the house."

"Clark, if something is wrong, you need to tell us," his mother called after them as they entered the den.

Lois was too shaken to do anything more than follow behind Clark as everything began to sink in. This army of mysterious men in black was drawing closer by the minute.

When they were clear of the house, Clark handed CJ to her. Martha was worriedly watching from the back door. "Head straight across the fields…" he began.

"No." Lois latched onto his arm with an iron grip. "You're not staying."

Clark's expression was apologetic. "I can hold them off."

"They know about Kryptonite, Clark! They could kill you."

She read his unspoken reply. "No," she stated firmly, shaking her head with a mixture of disbelief and anger. "No! They already got to your parents. If you're not here, they won't have any reason to stay and do them more harm," she pleaded. "You're parents will be fine, but right now I need you. _We_ need you."

His brow creased in deliberation.

"If anyone stays, it's me," Lois declared, attempting to unlatch CJ from her neck. The little boy, finally having had his fill of emotional tension, wasn't letting go. "I can't be stopped by meteor rocks."

"But you can be stopped by bullets!" Clark exclaimed.

"Then I guess we're both going," Lois replied, giving up on trying to dislodge CJ's grip. She looked back to the house and saw that Martha was no longer standing at the door. She had a good idea of what could have distracted her. "And it looks like we'd better do it right now!"

* * *

Lois rushed into the cavern with Clark at her heels. "Chloe!" she sighed in relief upon seeing her cousin. She turned to the time-traveler that had started this whole thing. As much as she hated to admit it, everything was in his hands now. "Your friends are right behind us." 

"They aren't my fr…"

"Whatever," Lois interrupted impatiently. She looked down handheld computer-like thing in Xavir's hands. "So, how do we do this?"

Xavir frowned. "Well, I've been trying to get it started but there seem to be some complications…"

"Complications?" Clark repeated. "What kind of complications?"

"I…" Xavir took a step back.

Chloe cleared her throat and stepped forward. "It's not working."

Lois's heart leaped. "What does that mean – not working?"

"Perhaps I should explain."

The group spun around at the sound of a new voice in their midst. Seeing the identity of the newcomer, Lois stepped closer to Clark. "Merrick."

The tall blond-haired man tilted his head slightly in her direction at the mention of his name. "So I am," he replied.

Lois felt Clark stiffen beside her. She knew that he remembered as well as she did how their last encounter with this man had gone. All she knew for sure was that she couldn't let this man get his hands on her baby. Watching Xavir's wide-eyed reaction to Merrick's appearance, Lois feared once again that they were in over their heads.

"Xavir," Merrick greeted. "Having a little trouble accessing the Tislor?"

"I…"

"Obviously he is," Chloe announced boldly, stepping forward. "Why are you here?"

Merrick seemed taken aback at her affront but recovered quickly. "We're all here for the same reason," he said. "I was sent to make sure everything goes without a hitch." He faced Xavir again. "Do you remember this time period in the Centre's history, Christian?"

"I guess not," Merrick relented at his blank stare. "If you had, you'd recall that the ship has already been moved."

* * *

The two black SUV's were waiting outside of the caves when they exited. In the field beyond the vehicles, a black helicopter awaited their arrival.

"You _told_ him?" Xavir demanded under his breath, grabbing Merrick's arm.

"Told who, what?" Lois asked, immediately picking up on the interaction. She placed a hand over CJ's head to block him from the brisk wind.

"Xavir's asking about an old friend, and the answer is no." Merrick looked Clark in the eye. "It is not my place to reveal certain things, no matter how interesting and unexpected they may be."

He looked back to Xavir. "Everything in its own place, in its own time - Isn't that right, Xavir?"

Chloe frowned; her eyes moving back and forth. It was almost as if she were seeing the pieces of a puzzle come together. "Lo…"

"It's time we go," Merrick announced, covering her comment. He signaled for the men to move behind them.

The action made Lois's attention shift from Chloe's face.

After a slight hesitation, Xavir nodded and stepped toward Lois. Her eyes grew wide as she realized that he was waiting for her to hand over her child.

"Not here. Not like this," she said, holding CJ closer to her chest. He burrowed into her arms and she realized that it was past his naptime. A sudden panic rose in her chest. Her son would sleep through the entire exchange. How would he react? One moment he would be falling asleep in his mother's arms and in the next he would be with strangers in a strange land. Pain and guilt threatened to suffocate her.

The appearance of Merrick and his men was disturbing - it changed everything. Xavir had told them that Merrick was not looking out for their best interests. Merrick's boss, a man Xavir had refused to name, had sent his agents to bring Connor back to him. The Boss, as they had resorted to calling him, wanted Connor because he was Clark's son. Xavir hadn't said why Clark's heritage was important to the Boss, but they had been able to connect the dots anyway.

Xavir's apprehension about facing the Boss's men had been enough to make Lois afraid of them herself. Now, here they were, standing face to face with the enemy, and Xavir was telling them that going along with the bad guys was the only way for them to succeed. She didn't know how that was going to work, but she wasn't letting go until she did.

"Not like this," Lois repeated with finality.

Xavir turned his head to address Merrick over his shoulder. "She won't cooperate unless you let her come along."

Merrick gave her an assessing glance. "Sure, why not."

Lois could see that he didn't fear her interference. Whatever Merrick's plan was, he was confident that none of them could do anything to stop it. "Clark and Chloe, too," she added.

Merrick smirked. He had a gloved hand in his pocket and Lois was reminded why he felt protected against Clark as well. "Clark, too," he agreed lightly. "But I'm afraid Miss Sullivan will be otherwise engaged."

Lois turned to her cousin and saw that the agent nearest her had grabbed her arms. At the same time, Merrick was raising a black device in front of her face. Before Lois could shout a warning, he pressed a button and a bright flare briefly illuminated Chloe's eyes. In response, Chloe slumped into the agent's arms.

Lois turned back to Merrick with dawning horror. She felt Clark's hand on the small of her back. "She won't remember any of this, will she?"

Merrick tapped the device lightly against his forehead. "Amazing little thing, isn't it? It has the ability to target specific memories like that." He snapped his fingers. "So, as you can see, your cooperation is not required."

He revealed his eerie half-smile again and dropped the device into his pocket. "Well, Miss Lane, Mr. Kent, how do you want to play this round? Would you like to join me on the helicopter, or do we end this right here?"

* * *

"He says he has a plan," Clark whispered to Lois. She could barely hear him over the sound of the chopper's engine and the rushing wind even though he was speaking directly into her ear. 

She snuggled her sleeping son closer and looked across the helicopter's seating area to Xavir. He was flanked by two of Merrick's men. Behind them, Merrick was seated in the co-pilot's chair, but his head was facing them.

Always watching, Lois thought to herself. Always analyzing.

She didn't know what kind of plan Xavir had, but she prayed it would keep her son from those calculating and knowing eyes.

Noticing Xavir raising his hand to cover his mouth as if coughing, she waited for Clark to interpret his covert message.

"He says that when we get close enough to the building that the ship is in, he will activate a window so he can do a time jump before the agents do." He paused, as if hesitant to reveal the rest of the message.

She felt his arm tighten around her shoulders. "He'll take him somewhere where he will be protected – somewhere no will know to look for him."

Lois tilted her head to look up at Clark. The danger they were in was crystal clear. If they didn't give their son up willingly, these men would take him anyway – and the place they would take him would not be safe.

Even if they found a way to thwart Merrick this time – somehow defeating him and his Kryptonite, the Boss's men would never stop coming. They had to go along with Xavir's plan. Their only choice was to trust him.

The sadness she felt was reflected in Clark's eyes. The worst part of it all – and she was now sure of this – was that with a flash of that mysterious device, their memory of everything CJ oriented would be gone. Lois felt a surge of self-hate at the flutter of relief that she flared when she realized that she wouldn't remember giving up her child. It would save her the pain of having to relive the moment over and over in her mind once it was done, but it would also take away the very essence of her being.

How could she live without her soul?

She swallowed and broke eye contact with Clark, shifting CJ's weight from her shoulder so she could study his face. She soaked in every detail. The small dimple in his chin. The little mole by his right ear. She smiled at the way his lips puckered in his sleep; the way his hair curled around her fingers.

There hadn't been time for a hair cut. Maybe the people he was going to – members of her family and trustworthy, Xavir had assured her – would trim it later. Tears sprung to her eyes and once again, her heart expanded to allow in more sorrow.

She picked up his hand, taking a final inventory of his fingers. Finally, with a sigh, she kissed each finger, kissed each closed eyelid, kissed his forehead, and pressed her lips into his hair before sliding the sleeping child over to his father.

She turned her attention to the view of the city below them, unable to watch Clark repeat her farewell ministrations - unable to watch him hand over her baby to be taken away.

Lois wiped the tears from her eyes as the chopper slowed and circled over a familiar set of buildings. As they swung in a wide arc, Lois could see the famous Daily Planet Globe on the right. To the left of it was another familiar landscape.

"LuthorCorp," she muttered with narrowed eyes. It clicked. "LuthorCorp!"

The pieces finally slid into place. The company's involvement with the restoration of the caves. The removal of the ship to some underground location. A man's mad desire to study a child 100 years in the future. Somehow, this entire ordeal, the Boss, the agents, the secret organization Merrick had alluded to – it all circled around what was supposed to be an abandoned obsession in this time period. The person sitting at the apex of all these conjectures had to be…

"Clark, it's Le…" As Lois turned her head to share her deduction with Clark, something about the air quality below them altered. She could almost feel the electrons gaining energy; she could feel the hairs on her body stand to attention.

The words died on her lips as she did a double take at the odd rippling expanse of sky outside of the window. Feeling movement beside her, she turned back to the craft's interior in time to see Xavir standing. He had just taken her sleeping child from Clark's grasp.

"I'll make sure he's safe," Xavir said, meeting her eyes with a determined expression. Before Lois could respond, he executed a quick sidestep and launched himself through the open door.

She was too startled to even emit a scream.

"Christian!" Merrick shouted. His men bounded for the opening, but they were too late to grab them.

Lois felt Clark's arms around her waist. He was the only thing that had kept her from following Xavir over the edge of the copter's opening. Xavir and CJ had somehow disappeared into the undulating vortex below them. As she watched in paralyzed silence, the time window closed as if someone had zipped it shut.

"Damnit!" Merrick grumbled. He delivered some quiet orders to his agents, but Lois was too dazed to comprehend what he was saying. "Take us higher."

Lois blinked and tried to refocus as the helicopter gained altitude.

"This is not quite the way we had planned it," Merrick was saying. "But I'm afraid it will have to do." He pulled out a hand-held computer and entered some commands. Again, the air-quality changed; the smell of ozone becoming more pronounced than usual.

Lois turned in Clark's arms, grabbing his arms in panic. "He's gone," she squeaked, finally regaining her voice after the sight of seeing her child vanish in front of her eyes began to settle in. Clark was looking at her in equal distress and helplessness.

"I hate to interrupt," Merrick's cool voice sounded over the sound of the rotors. "But you might want to pay attention for this part."

They turned to see Merrick's two flunkies leap from the chopper's open bays.

"We're going down!" Clark yelled.

Lois lunged for the controls as the pilot made his jump.

"I'll see you in the history books," Merrick announced, hanging on to the upper railing through the bumpy interchange. He lifted a pen-like device and pressed a button.

Lois tried to shut her eyes from what she knew was coming, but the blinding light penetrated through her closed eyelids. A flash of white hot pain seared like a branding iron on the nerves behind her eyes.

Then - there was nothing.

* * *

**

* * *

TBC

* * *

**


	23. TWENTYTWO

_You do understand that our time is limited, don't you? -- Dr. Curtis McCabe, Vanilla Sky_

* * *

* * *

**TWENTY-TWO**

* * *

* * *

Her eyes burned. It felt as if her retinas had been scorched, blinded by a light brighter than the sun. With her sight absent, another sensation overwhelmed her. She was falling.

And she was falling fast.

A sudden bout of nausea caused Lois to bolt upright. Scrambling out of the bed, she barely made it to the garbage can before expelling the contents of her stomach.

"Lois? Sweetie, are you okay?"

Lois glanced up as Martha crouched down beside her.

Lois grimaced and placed a trembling hand against her head. "My head… it feels like it's splitting in two."

Martha brushed Lois's hair from her forehead and checked her temperature. "You were moaning in your sleep but we couldn't wake you. I had just left to get a damp towel when I heard you getting sick."

Lois blinked in confusion. "I fell asleep?" she asked, dazed. "What time is it?"

"A little before 9 o'clock," the older woman replied, rubbing circles on Lois's back.

"9 o'clock," Lois repeated slowly. Something wasn't right about this, but she couldn't put her finger on it. It was as if she was forgetting something important.

"You were exhausted, so when they woke up, Clark and CJ went for a walk…"

"What?" Lois jumped to her feet, swaying when a sharp pain lanced through her head. "What did you just say?"

Martha stood as well, regarding at Lois with deep concern. "Clark took CJ out… they were up early so after breakfast…"

Lois looked at Martha in confusion. "CJ?"

"Yes, he and Clark are out…" Martha's eyes narrowed. "Lois, are you okay?"

Lois blinked. There was something she couldn't… "Connor!" She raised a hand to her head as the flash of pain hit again.

"I remember CJ." A grin split across her face and she threw her arms around Martha's neck. "I remember CJ!"

Frowning, Martha returned the fierceness of the hug. "Of course you do…" She pulled back and gazed in Lois's eyes. "Why don't you come downstairs and I'll give you something to settle your stomach."

Lois nodded distractedly, her mind overcome with images of falling helicopters, dark SUVs and ominous men dressed in black. "Where's Chloe?"

"She's downstairs with…"

"I need to speak to her. I need to find Clark." Lois attempted to rush to the door but only ended up wobbling into the frame. "I'm okay," she said, leaning against the wall and taking a deep breath. The details of her dream were fading fast. It seemed that the harder she tried to hold onto them, the faster they faded. The only thing that didn't lessen was the aching in her chest. "I can't let them make me forget."

Her eyes seemed to beg Martha to understand. "I can't let them make me forget my baby."

Martha moved to Lois's side and wrapped an arm around her waist. "It's okay, Honey. We're not going to let that happen." Her heart was breaking at the bleak desperation in Lois's voice. "Come on, we'll go downstairs and find Clark."

* * *

_-- **Est. Time Remaining: 02:59:15** --_

Kyle paced restlessly. He and his mother were outside of the cave's secret entrance waiting for the rest to the group to join them at the checkpoint. He was annoyed with having been sent out first – annoyed with having to leave his home unprotected.

He wished they would have resisted instead of running away. He had grown up with tales about the Justice League and the many adventures of Superman. Before his grandfather's death, the League had been valiant heroes, facing danger and saving the day. Now, what remained of that legacy was being threatened…

…And they were backing down with their tails securely tucked between their legs. This is what the great super legacy had become.

He released a pent-up breath and continued pacing. If there was action going on, he should be in the middle of it, not waiting to pick up the pieces. "They should have been here by now."

He hated waiting. He hated feeling helpless. Glancing up, he saw the stricken look on his mother's face and he hated having voiced the words that put it there. He didn't want to make her worry. "I'm sorry, Mom."

Karyn's brow creased. "No, you're right," she sighed. "They should have been right behind us… wait…"

Kyle jogged over to stand next to Karyn. She was leaning into the Glider's cockpit looking at the control panel screen. She had returned to the craft to start monitoring the progress of the miners by their thermal emissions.

"That's the Flyer," she commented, pointing to a fast moving blob that was heading in the direction of the blob closest to their former home. "What are they doing?"

Kyle straightened. "I'll go find Dad."

His retreat was stopped by Karyn's hand on his arm; her eyes wide with concern. "You can't go back there," she said firmly. She remembered what Brynnan had told her about the Centre's experiments with Kryptonite powered weapons.

Kyle shot her a confident grin. "It's probably nothing. I'll get Dad and we'll get Aunt Brynn and Pops back here safely. You know we can do this," he said lightly. "We do this kind of stuff every day."

Karyn frowned in consideration. She knew her son had a dangerous streak and she knew that he had been dismayed when the decision had been made to leave the manor without a fight.

On a daily basis, Kyle donned the familiar crest of his father and grandfather and patrolled the skies as Superman, but deep inside she could tell that he longed for a destiny – an identity – of his own. Seeing him at this moment, dressed in casual clothes and grinning in youthful exuberance, she dreaded letting him out of her sight for even a minute.

Unfortunately, he was right. Without wind power, the Glider was inoperable. If something had gone wrong, she wouldn't be able to help but Kyle would. With a shake of her head, she pulled him closer and hugged him tightly. "Promise you'll come back to me," she said.

Kyle pulled away with a groan. "Moooommm."

"Promise me."

"Okay, I promise," he replied. He shot her another boyish grin, and then he was gone.

* * *

"Shields are now at 72 percent," a computerized voice announced.

Brynn steadied the craft as another blast knocked up against it. Upon leaving Connor, she had laced her way through the tunnels, heading in the direction of the bogies nearest to the mansion. She figured that the best way to help Gray was to keep the bad guys away.

"Shields are now at 65 percent."

Brynn skirted to the right, dodging an illuminated ball of energy. It hit the walls of the tunnel behind the ship and chipped rocks bounced off of the Flyer's force field. She had been trading firepower with the miner-vehicle for the past ten minutes, effectively halting their burrrowing by engaging them in battle. Each blast from the enemy tank was sent with greater power and Brynn knew the soldiers inside were trying to gauge the strength of her deflectors.

Some of her time on the Centre's space station had been spent digging up information on the weapons being developed, so she knew that the armaments on the tank were too much for the Flyer to combat in an endurance combat. She would have to use intelligence over brawn to win this battle.

When the next shot came her way, she directed the Flyer into its path, and brought the ship abruptly to the ground as if it had been incapacitated by the blow.

"Shields down," she ordered while prying the cover off of a panel above her head.

"Shields are now at zero percent," the computer replied dutifully.

Immediately, Brynn pressed the button that had been hidden by the panel, bracing herself as an isolated electromagnetic pulse arced from the ship. The EMP was meant to be an emergency weapon for two reasons: first, it required that the shields be taken completely down, rendering the ship vulnerable; and second, it obliterated power to every electronic device and computer system within the surrounding 500 feet - which unfortunately included the Flyer itself.

Brynn grabbed the two phaser guns from under her seat and kicked open the door of the ship. The soldiers would be leaving their powerless vehicle and heading her way momentarily.

She planned on being ready for them.

* * *

Lc-Cprl Tawara, designation MOS 0321, was born to be a soldier. He had been trained by the finest, equipped by the best, and refined through thousands of hours in simulation programs. He had been created to be able to succeed in a battle against members of the Super Class… and yet an old man was kicking his cyb-aug soldier butt.

Through its defense contract with the Centre, the ISTAR Augmented Soldier operation had been in effect for decades; its purpose to be prepared for any future clashes with super powered humans. After the return of Superman, the project had taken on a different emphasis, and the past 20-plus years had been spent implementing the remaining meteor rock into highly advanced weaponry.

Lying on his back after withstanding the near fatal blast of a phaser gun, Tawara wondered if perhaps too much time had been spent studying the meteor rock. All of that special training was ineffective against the man who was standing above him at this moment.

"How did you find this place?"

Tawara had been heavily instructed in enemy capture protocol. Under no circumstances was he to answer their questions… but for some reason, he couldn't control himself. "I followed the route given to the shuttle piloted by Centre Operative Xavir Christian."

The cam-patch over his right eye analyzed the image of the man and sent the information back to the main computer. Even though he was no longer physically able to do his job, his system was always working.

"What were your orders?"

Again, against Tawara's will and training, he found himself answering. "To deny the destruction of any items beneficial to the study and disposal of the target terrorist organization."

Red letters flashed across Tawara's cam-patch. Having sensed a breach, his system was engaging the shutdown procedures.

"And your mission after that?"

"To eliminate Superman."

The older man's fierceness seemed to waver. "Where is the meteor rock?"

Finally, Tawara had come across a question that he wasn't forced to answer. He wouldn't have to admit that he wasn't the one who was carrying it.

Everything went offline before he could.

* * *

Gray was looking for ways to revive the soldier when a flash of blue caught the corner of his eye. "Connor! Don't come any closer! I need to check him first."

The sharp pain in his side made him gasp as he turned. The fight with the soldier had left him wounded. He suspected that among other things, a few of his ribs were broken.

Connor hovered near the mansion's entrance.

"You are not supposed to be here, my Boy," Gray scolded.

"I ran into Brynn… I had to come back." Connor's expression was unyielding. "You've been hurt."

Gray ignored the observation and continued searching the armor on the body before him. "He was a scout," he revealed. "He was able to get through the tunnels before we reconfigured them and he disarmed the self-destruct. It is going to have to be done manually."

Connor's expression paled. "Is he clean?"

Gray finished his search and nodded, grimacing at the ever-increasing pain in his side. He mentally added a bruised lung to his tally of injuries.

Given the clear, Connor lowered to the ground and walked over to Gray, carefully helping the older man to his feet. His eyes grazed the soldier on the ground; the small pile of weapons Gray had taken off of him sat a few feet away. "I'll take you to the checkpoint and then come back for the override."

"Dad?"

Connor looked up at the voice. "Kyle? What are you doing back here? Where's your mother?"

Kyle ran over to his father and Grandfather. "Mom's fine. She's waiting for us at the checkpoint. What happened here?" he asked, his eyes surveying the area.

"Just a good old-fashioned butt-whooping," Gray replied weakly.

"Way to go, Pops!" Kyle laughed.

Connor frowned and gently helped transfer Gray's weight to Kyle. The elderly man was fading fast. "Take him – I'm going to go back and set off the detonators and then I'll be right behind you." He wanted Gray to be a safe distance away when he did. He and Kyle could naturally withstand the blast, but not Grey.

"Dad, I can set off the detonators…" Kyle countered.

"Kyle." Connor gave him the universal parent-look.

The young man sighed. "Fine. I got it. Play it safe."

Grey tried to chuckle, but it came out as a cough. He understood the allure of youth. Hell, if he wasn't so banged up, he would be arguing to stay too.

Connor's expression grew perplexed. "There is something to be said about being safe, Kyle."

"I know there is, Dad. It's just…" Kyle glanced around at the giant door to his former home with sorrow. Suddenly his eyes narrowed. "Did you hear that? Someone's inside."

Connor spun around, his eyes narrowing as well. He turned his head to Kyle. "Go."

"But…"

"Go. Now."

Gray met Connor's eyes. "If there's…" He inhaled in pain and coughed. "Another soldier…" He coughed again.

Connor nodded. "I know."

Gray's eyebrows knitted together. "You should just let me…" his words dissolved into a fit of coughs.

Connor shook his head. "Kyle, get your grandfather out of here."

Gray's eyes were furious, but he couldn't respond for the intensity of the pain that he was in.

Kyle looked at his father intently. "Okay – but, I'm coming right back to help." He gingerly put an arm under Gray's knees so he could lift him up.

"Then you might want to hurry up," Connor replied with a smirk.

Kyle grinned back and lifted from the ground. When Kyle and Gray had exited the cavern, the smirk fell from Connor's face. His eyes scanned the massive vault-like door to the mansion and he hovered off of the ground.

What Gray had wanted to tell him – what he had already guessed on his own – was that the hidden soldier would be the one with the Kryptonite.

It was the reason he had refused to let Kyle stay.

* * *

Kairo tapped his fingers thoughtfully as he took in the information the caller was giving him. "And you are sure of this?"

"Yes sir. From the digital footage captured by the two 0321s, it is confirmed that the at least two of the terrorists were inside the cave system when detonation occurred. Records indicate that target 001 had been infected before the collapse."

"And the others?"

"The old man was able to get away from Ground Zero with the assistance of another insurgent…"

Kairo frowned at the man's apparent indecision. "What is it?"

"Well… Sir, he flew."

"He flew," Kairo repeated with narrowed eyes. That meant there was another one, he thought to himself. Interesting. "Keep me informed."

"Yes, Sir. Will do, Sir."

Professor Kairo pressed the button to end the call and pushed the earpiece back into its place behind his ear. He turned to the young man sitting next to him at the workstation and patted him on the forearm in a fatherly manner. "Try not to worry, Enning. Xavir will be returning very soon and then all of this will be over."

* * *

Merrick frowned as he entered the ancient caves. The Kent farm had been deserted when he and the other agents had arrived. Unfortunately, that meant that he had to leave a car there to await their return. They couldn't take the chance of leaving any of the people involved with the case with their memories.

Merrick knew the seriousness of his mission. The Professor had made it clear to him that any interference with the timeline was prohibited. His job was to clean up the mess that Xavir had initiated with his original time jaunt.

The purpose behind Merrick's meeting with Lois Lane had been to try and flush Superman out of hiding. It was well known that 2009 was the year that Superman debuted. Lane had been the one to get the first exclusive interview with the alien, so it wasn't a far stretch of logic to think he would be around her and what was potentially his offspring.

Finding out that Superman was none other than Clark Kent was a bonus - a huge discovery that would pay off in spades for his employer.

A small smile played at his lips as he thought about the report he would be able to give to the Professor upon his return. He couldn't help but reflect on how amazing it would have been to share this recent discovery with Lex Luthor. It was a pity that he'd had to erase the man's memory of their meeting as well. Having this much control over the way things could pan out in the future was a heady experience. If he wanted to, he could have given the legendary man the answers to all of the questions he would ever ask.

But he enjoyed his life. He was paid considerably well, had an adventurous job, and got to travel. Merrick laughed mirthlessly at his mental pun on words as he made his way deeper into the caves. He stepped around a large boulder into the main cavern unnoticed by the people who were already there.

A young man in a black jumpsuit and hat was entering commands into a hand-held device near the far wall. A man and a woman holding a child stood a few feet away. He had known that this is where they would come. Xavir was nothing if not predictable.

"Having some trouble accessing the Tislor Core, Christian?"

The man in the black jumpsuit turned around at the interruption. "Not exactly."

Merrick's eyes grew wide. The person in the cap was neither Xavir nor a man – he immediately recognized the young woman to be the former First Lady, Chloe Sullivan Luthor. His gaze flicked to the couple. It was not Lois and Clark standing there, but an older man and a woman whose hair looked more red than brown than he had assumed.

To make matters worse, in the woman's arms was a stuffed animal, not a child. "What in the…?"

"Why would we be looking for a Tislor Core in a place where there is no ship?" Chloe asked, smirking.

Merrick turned and sprinted to the mouth of the cave. Looking up at the departing helicopter, he swore under his breath. The chopper pilot and the two agents that had been riding in the SUV with him were tied and gagged. His mind spiraled with ways to fix this current predicament.

Xavir must have remembered that the ship had been moved. The secret research facility that had eventually become the Centre had been put into effect near the end of the year 2008. Knowing that, Xavir would have figured out that his return trip would have to take place from LuthorCorp in Metropolis and not the Kawatche Caves.

Merrick ran a hand over his neat crew cut hair. None of that explained how Xavir knew that he had planned to meet them here at the caves to aid the child's transport. With an absent shrug, Merrick decided that it didn't matter. Xavir would be returning to the future with the child – as was the plan. All Merrick was supposed to do was make sure Lane had the right motivation to send the child away, and to make sure that Xavir got to Metropolis under the deadline.

Done and done.

The Professor would be waiting when Xavir arrived to take care of the rest. All Merrick and his men had to do now was finish their duties as the Sweeper Team and then make their way back to Metropolis to activate their return window. Glancing down at his chronometer, he decided that three hours was tight, but certainly do-able.

He shook his head in amusement at the sight of his helpless colleagues lined up on the ground next to the car. They had undoubtedly met the future Superman. He would untie them just as soon as he lightened the memory load of a few witnesses, he thought, pulling a black tube device from his pocket. 

He felt the effects of the shot before he heard it. The arrowhead had sliced through the meaty part of his hand between thumb and forefinger and knocked the Rethrick Sequencer from his grasp. Instinctively wrapping his good hand around his wounded one, he looked up in astonishment. A hooded man in green and black armor was staring at him from a distance of 20 feet away.

"I tend to get angry when people try to mess with the minds of my friends," the hooded man growled. "And you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

* * *

Lois directed the helicopter in a wide circle over LuthorCorp. "Are you sure we don't need to land this thing?" she asked, sending a worried look over her shoulder.

"No," Xavir answered, his attention focused on entering commands into his padd. "This is fine. I just need to be within 400 feet of the core."

Clark frowned. "And the ship is in LuthorCorp?" He still couldn't believe the implications of it all.

"It was moved to a chamber below the building in late 2008," Xavir replied. "I can't believe I didn't remember that before." He shot Lois an apologetic glance.

"So this is it?" Lois asked grimly.

Xavir nodded. "This is it." He entered the final combination of buttons and looked up.

The air took on the acrid smell of ozone and the heightened electron activity in the atmosphere pulled at their hair.

"Wow," Clark commented. Outside the door of the helicopter, the air had thickened into a silky substance, rippling and waving like a river current. Before his very eyes, a portal to another world, another time, was opening up. The heaviness of the moment caused him to look upon the sleeping child in his arms in amazement. His son had come from the world on the other side of that veil.

"And you're sure they won't come back?" Lois asked. As prepared for as she thought she had been for this moment, it still created panic. She had made sure that their memories wouldn't be compromised… but was there anything else she had forgotten? Was there anything else she could prevent?

Xavir shook his head. "The chemical reaction from the Kryptonite entering the Tislor Core will destroy it. Without the Tislor – no one can use the technology again."

Lois sighed. That would have to be good enough. "Okay." Her gaze fell on her son. She had to trust that Xavir would do what was best to keep her child safe. She had no other choice. "Listen, no offense or anything – but I hope I never see you again."

When Xavir laughed, she tilted her head. "What?"

"Nothing… it's just you said that to me once before."

Lois arched an eyebrow but didn't ask. She met Clark's eyes and held them for a beat, silently communicating that she was ready for the next step before turning her attention back to the chopper's instrument panel.

Xavir noticed the exchange and faced Clark. It was time for him to go. Hesitantly, he reached out toward CJ. "Can I…?"

Clark paused a moment before nodding and lifting his son from his lap.

From this moment on, nothing would ever be the same.

* * *

**

* * *

TBC: Epilogue  
**

* * *


	24. EPILOGUE

* * *

**

* * *

EPILOGUE**

* * *

_

* * *

-- **Est. Time Remaining: 00:09:41** --_

Kairo and Fitz both rose to their feet as the air in the room became heavy laden with static. A bright light-filled vertical line appeared in the middle of the room; the energy coming from it causing the air surrounding it to ripple. Suddenly, the line split open to reveal a portal, and a man in dark clothing fell through.

Seeing his friend on the ground, Fitz rushed to his side to help him stand. Kairo stood with his eye focused on the vortex. When it closed with out delivering any additional travelers, he rounded on the two young men with fire in his eyes.

"Where is the child?" he demanded heatedly.

Xavir felt the wave of nausea pass and brushed the dirt from his pants. "Hello, Father. It's good to see you too."

Kairo narrowed his eyes and rushed to the dark-haired young man, grabbing his shirt in his fist and pulling his face close. "Where is the child, Xavir?"

Xavir met his father's glare with one of his own. "The plan was never to bring him here, Professor."

Fitz's eyes popped at the confession. This was all news to him. "It wasn't?"

Kairo ignored the young scientist. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about your evil plan to take the child of Superman so you could raise him to be your ultimate weapon," Xavir sneered.

Kairo pushed the younger man away in disgust. "You stupid boy," he growled, rushing over to the monitor. The countdown was still running, and on the screen, the wave was dangerously near its folding point. "I should have known you couldn't be counted on for anything."

Fitz and Xavir followed him over to the workstation.

"What have you done?" Kairo asked. "You've just destroyed the world."

Xavir kept his gaze level. The staring contest ended when the Professor spun around and left the room.

When he was gone, Xavir sunk into the waiting chair.

"What happened?" Fitz asked. "I thought you were supposed to bring the baby back."

Xavir looked up at his friend. "Remember when I told you that I had enough Llecom for two round trips?"

Fitz nodded. "Yeah, but the plan was only for one trip, right?"

"No… I needed one of the trips was to take the baby from 2009 to 2057 and the other to get back here."

Fitz's skin couldn't get any paler. "2057? What? Your plan was to make two trips?"

Xavir shook his head. "2057 is when the new Superman was left with the Guardians for safekeeping. _That_ was the plan."

"New Superman? The Guardians?" Fitz shook his head as if trying to clear it. "I don't understand."

An alarm sounded on the monitor and the numbers on the countdown began flashing red.

"Well, there really isn't time to explain…" He pointed to the screen. The future and the past would collide in less than a minute. "… but if we're alive in 30 seconds, I'll tell you everything."

Fitz looked at his friend with wide eyes. "Do you think you just destroyed the world?"

Xavir ran a hand through his hair, watching the final numbers tick away with trepidation. "Right now, I'm really hoping that I saved it."

* * *

_

* * *

_Lois rolled over and grabbed her cell phone off the side table, flipping it open to silence the ringing. "I told you not to call me." 

"I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"How do you think I'm doing, Smallville? I miss my baby."

Clark was quiet for a beat. "It wasn't my idea. If you hadn't sent him away, we'd all be together right now."

(--

Lois tapped her hands on the railing and sighed. She had asked to speak to Xavir alone in the Loft.

"I'm not sure you understand the gravity of what you're asking me to do," he was saying.

Lois turned to face him. "I do. Believe me, I do understand."

Xavir's brow furrowed at her reply. "You said yourself that you don't remember all the details from your dream…"

"I don't, but that's not the point," Lois countered. "It's what I do remember that's important."

"It was just a dream," Xavir offered sympathetically.

Lois shook her head emphatically. "It was a warning."

She took a step in his direction but halted when he flinched. Admittedly, she hadn't been as welcoming as she could have possibly been to Xavir, but he hadn't exactly bearing good news when he showed up.

"Tell me something," she started softly. "Why are you so afraid about us knowing the future?" She needed to get through to him.

Xavir looked at her silently for a moment before responding. "I started all of this," he said, waving a hand in the air absently. "I'm just trying to set things right, and to do that, I have to protect the timeline."

"And you're willing to erase our memories to make that happen?"

"I don't have the capabilities to erase your memories," he objected.

"But those men do," Lois said urgently. She gave up trying to hold her emotion back and moved closer and took his arm. She didn't know why, but she had the distinct feeling that they needed to make a move soon. To her relief, Xavir didn't flinch this time.

"There's no evidence that you had your memories taken. That's a good sign at least," he said weakly.

Lois frowned. "But your history books never said anything about me having a son named Connor, did they?"

Xavir shook his head slowly. She could tell he was still hesitant to tell her anything about the future that she didn't already know.

"But that could just mean that you never told anyone about him – I mean, who would believe that you'd sent your only child to the future for safekeeping?"

Lois had to admit that he had a point there. She sank onto the couch and rubbed her forehead. She had all of these disconnected images in her mind and she knew that Xavir was the only one who could help her put the puzzle together.

Only child, she repeated to herself. Xavir had inadvertently revealed something about her future – and it wasn't really a promising glimpse.

Xavir lowered to sit on the couch as well. "I have to ensure the integrity of the timeline," he said apologetically. "The best we can do now is to make sure we are one step ahead of Merrick and his men."

"No."

Xavir gave her a questioning look.

"That's not the best we can do," Lois said. "It can't be."

She shifted on the couch so she could look at him directly. "There has to be a reason for all of this… At this point in my life, I've completely given up on the idea of coincidences." She eyed him seriously. "The reason I had that dream… the reason I had all of those dreams… They mean something. I just need you to fill in the gaps so I can figure it out."

"If I tell you about the choices you make in the future – you might not make those choices again."

Lois smiled. "Is that such a bad thing?" she asked, lightly, trying to bring some humor into the intense conversation. "What person wouldn't want to avoid bad decisions?"

Xavir looked down at his hands.

"What?" Her intention at levity had obviously missed its target.

"I wouldn't get born," he confessed. "Self-survival is a pretty influential motivating factor."

Lois tilted her head and gazed at him through narrowed eyes. "Are you…" She studied his features. "Are you somehow related to me? To CJ?"

"Yes and no," he answered.

Lois waited for a minute before realizing that he wasn't going to expand on that statement. Her shoulders drooped. From each of their standpoints, this was a life and death situation. And if he was related to her – in a way – than she had to believe that he would want the best for her son… right?

She searched his eyes again. "You can't know that for sure."

"What?"

"That you won't get born – you can't know that for sure."

He scoffed and shook his head.

Lois grabbed his forearm again. "Seriously," she insisted. "I don't believe in coincidences, but I do believe that certain things are supposed to happen… Like destiny, I guess. You coming here… Clark and I going into the future… CJ… It was all meant to happen. Can you see that?"

"Destiny?" Xavir frowned. "Maybe."

Lois gathered momentum with his reluctant agreement. "Well let's just say that it is destiny, and that there are certain events that must happen in order for this destiny to be achieved. If you are part of that path – that order of things – than you will always be a part of it. You said CJ saves the world in the future, right?"

He nodded warily.

"Maybe it wasn't supposed to get to that point. Maybe it was sending him to the future, and the subsequent decisions that we all made from there that made it necessary for him to save the world…" She groaned. It made more sense in her head.

"What I'm trying to say is, everything we're doing… it seems like it's already been done… You can tell me that much, can't you?"

He paused to think about it and nodded again. "You're right about that part. It's how we know that we have to continue with the plan."

Lois shook her head. "Wrong. I think it's how we know we have to do something different."

At his doubtful expression, she pressed on. "It's a circle. Clark and I going to the future, me getting pregnant, and then us coming back to the past. You showing up to take him to the future – only not your future, but to a time before you were even born. Then, Clark and I showing back up in the future, starting the whole thing over again. We're going to continue on that Merry-Go-Round until we break the cycle. There's a reason we're being given this chance…"

She ran a hand distractedly through her hair. "Second chances are setups for second beginnings," she said and sighed. "If I know anything to be true – it's that."

She and Xavir spent a long moment looking into each other's eyes. She was pleading for her life - for her future… at the possible expense of his own.

"Lois," Clark's voice interrupted them from the top of the stairway. He looked from one of them to the other with a perplexed expression. Lois could tell he sensed the tension in the room but didn't know what it was about. "Chloe's hookup to the Talon webcam just showed two Black SUVs going down Main Street heading west."

Lois swallowed and stood up. The game, as the saying went, was afoot. "We should go."

She walked over to Clark and took his hand. Pausing, she turned to face Xavir, who was still sitting silently on the couch. "When Jor-El said that it would come down to a decision to save the world, I thought he was talking about Clark accepting himself, accepting his abilities. Then, when you showed up, I thought that maybe Jor-El's warning was about CJ and us deciding to send him away."

"But now," she said, tightening her hold on Clark's hand. "I think this is it. The decision - Trusting you." She swallowed again, her throat amazingly dry. When she started to speak again, her voice trembled, and she felt Clark wrap his arm around her shoulder, trying to impart some of his strength through his nearness.

She smiled up at him before looking back to Xavir. "We were given the power to save the world… Now, we're giving it to you."

Lois turned into Clark's embrace and pressed her face into his chest. This whole ordeal had been a heightening experience in vulnerability, but she had never felt so helpless as she did at this moment – the moment when she had willingly given her power to someone else.

She didn't want to send her son away, but she knew that Xavir had the power to take him and make it so she wouldn't remember. Essentially, as she had just said, the final decision was his.

--)

"Lois," Clark said again. "Are you there?"

Lois blinked out of her reverie. "What did you say?"

"I said, if you hadn't sent CJ away, we'd all be together right now."

Lois smirked. "Can it, Smallville. It's not like I sent him _away_. He's at your parents' house for the night - and anyway, there's no way we'd all be together right now. You're not supposed to see the bride before the wedding."

"That rule only counts on the day _of_ the wedding, not the night before," Clark replied.

She smiled as she heard the pout in his voice. "You do have a point …"

"Give me the word and I'll be there in 20 seconds," he interjected, jumping on her acquiescence.

"Not going to happen, Fly Boy. If you look at the time, today has technically become tomorrow," she laughed. "Why aren't you partying? I thought I heard something about a stripper or two…"

The sound of Clark's returning chuckle made her smile even wider. "You had Jimmy scared to death when you threatened him about getting a stripper. I was lucky AC talked him out of the balloon contortionist."

"Aww, you could have invited CJ," she said cheekily. "He loves balloons."

"He loves _popping_ balloons," Clark corrected. "And don't try to change the subject. At least tell me what you're wearing."

Lois arched an eyebrow, still grinning in the darkness of her bedroom. "You mean what I'm wearing later on today?"

"Looiiisss," he whined, sounding a lot like his son.

"Well, I can't tell you what I'm wearing right now, because I'm not wearing anything…" Lois frowned at the sudden silence on the other end of the line. "Clark?"

The knock at her bedroom door made her sit up in shock. "Clark! Is that you?!"

The door cracked open and Chloe peeked her head in. "You're expecting Clark?" Chloe asked with a smirk. "Tsk, tsk. Can't you guys keep it in check for _one_ more night? I can find some calamine lotion for that itch…"

Lois rolled her eyes and threw a pillow at the door, which Chloe caught. She carried it over to the bed and jumped onto it next to Lois.

A chuckle sounded on the other end of the phone. "You shouldn't tease me like that. I can still come over."

"Looiiiiss," Chloe said, trying to pull her attention from the phone call. "This is the last night of your single life, and the girls and I have decided that you are staying up for every minute of it."

"Do you hear this?" Lois asked him. "You will know who to blame if I stumble down the aisle rather than magically glide as planned. They don't understand that I'm a working mother…" She swung the pillow at Chloe again when she caught her cousin sappily miming the playing of a violin.

Chloe grabbed the phone while Lois was in attack mode. "Good night, Clark. I promise Lois will be at the church on time."

After listening for a moment, she rolled her eyes and handed the phone back to Lois. "He wants to say goodbye."

Chloe reached over and pressed a few buttons on the alarm clock. "If you're not out of here in two minutes, I'm returning with backup." Chloe raised both eyebrows to show her sincerity and hopped off the bed. Just before she closed the door, she turned and held up two fingers.

"You wanted to say goodbye," Lois said, still laughing at her cousin's antics.

"Yes," Clark replied.

"So, say goodbye."

"Wait… what are you really wearing?"

Lois grinned again; her cheeks were going to be constantly sore if this was an indication of how the rest of her life with this man was going to be. "Goodnight, Kent."

"Goodnight _Mrs_ Kent."

"Watch it, Smallville. Just because I agreed to marry you doesn't mean you get to edit my byline."

He laughed; the sound sending a chill up her spine. Two words kept her from telling him to come over. The first being 'Honey,' and the second being 'Moon.'

"Goodnight, Clark."

"Hey Lois?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, and I can't wait to eat cake with you."

Lois laughed again. "Good _night_, Clark!"

"Say it back."

She sighed. "I love you, Smallville."

"Thank you – but that's not the part I wanted to hear."

Lois rolled her eyes again. "I can't wait to eat cake with you, too," she grumbled. Once the crisis had passed, they had been able to laugh about some of the things that had gone on. Clark wasn't ever going to let her live down the 'cake and eat' incident.

"Night, Honey."

When the line clicked off, Lois narrowed her eyes. "Did he just call me Honey?"

She happily dropped onto her back on the bed and inhaled. Five months ago, she had thought her world was ending. The moment Xavir had disappeared into thin air, her heart had stopped. It wasn't until she turned around to see CJ sitting in Clark's lap that it started again.

They had some serious explaining to do once they landed the chopper on the LuthorCorp landing pad, but that explanation and the one they had given to Oliver when his captives vanished before his eyes were nothing compared to ordeal of re-introducing Connor to his grandfather and aunt.

Over time, her dreams had started to return, and to her surprise, Clark and Chloe began to have dreams as well. Together, they were able to piece together one hell of a story. It would have been unbelievable if they didn't have a lively little boy in their lives as proof of the adventure the dreams painted.

…A hell of a story about a world stuck in a time loop, the creation of a future not-so-bright, and a generational curse of children growing up without their mothers. The key to breaking from that loop – the key to fixing all of it – had been the final decision of what to do with Connor. Jor-El had been right.

They had saved the world… this time.

It turned out that saving the world was not an isolated event. Thankfully, they had avoided some of the trappings that had led to future pain, including the opening of all of their eyes regarding a certain bald billionaire. Lex's love for Chloe might have been true, but his love for truth was not – and that was not a risk Chloe was willing to continue to mitigate.

As for the other stuff – they would just take it one day at a time.

Already, their future had changed and destiny had been steered onto another course by the small shifts they had made. The future was once again unknown.

And that was just the way Lois liked it.

The beeping of the alarm clock made Lois's eyes widen. Just as she reached for the button to silence it, the door to her room burst open to reveal her cousin standing there with the promised backup.

Well, at least everything beyond her _immediate_ future was unknown, Lois amended to herself as the bridal posse entered the room.

She braced for impact. "Crap."

* * *

_

* * *

_"Sweetie, wake up." 

A dark head popped from under the covers and the young man it belonged to sat up in bed with a start. He turned to his mother with wide eyes. "I just had the craziest dream. It was about Superman and the Justice League… I can't even remember half of it, but it was wild."

His mother laughed. "It's probably because of all of the excitement for the Festival. You need to get up, though, Xavi. Fitz is going to be here at nine. You know how he is about getting there early," she warned.

"Fitz!" Xavir exclaimed. "He was in it too! We were working on a space station and I flew a shuttle. We were fighting bad guys to save the world."

The woman sighed and ruffled his hair before stooping to gather stray clothes off of the floor and dumping them in a nearby hamper. "You should write all that down," she suggested. "Maybe you'll turn out to be a writer like your Grandmother someday."

"Maybe," Xavir said frowning. He got out of bed and stretched, narrowing his eyes at a poster on the wall opposite him. It showed all of the members of the Justice League in superhero poses, and to the right, the non-super members of the group: Lois Lane, Clark Kent and Chloe Sullivan. He walked over to look at it closer, his eyes going from Clark Kent to Superman and back again. There was something…

"Nah." Grinning, he shook his head. "That's insane."

With a laugh, he grabbed some clothes and darted toward the bathroom so he could shower. His best friend would be there any minute and he wanted to be ready. At the bathroom door, he paused, turning to look around his room once more. He had the distinct feeling that something was different.

His eyes settled on the framed photograph of him and his mother and father that was on his desk. It was the one where they had all made funny faces at the camera, and it always made him laugh.

No, he thought to himself, turning to enter the bathroom. Everything was just as it should be.

And it was.

---

_"The future belongs to God, and it is only he who reveals it, under extraordinary circumstances… When he does so, it is for only one reason: it's a future that was written so as to be altered." – The Alchemist_

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* * *

THE END

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End file.
